Legend!
by I.K.A. Valian
Summary: Zelda/ToS Crossover. Closed ad infinitum for renovations.
1. The Call of the Hero

I never have a muse do my disclaimer… I know, I'll have the new guy do it. You, Link! Do the disclaimer!

**Link**: (_Poof_) Whoa… where am I?

Never mind, just say the disclaimer.

**Link**: Okay… I.K.A. Valian does not own either Tales of Symphonia or The Legend of Zelda. However, he did invent this slightly altered idea of the original Symphonia Plot, and me, so I guess he owns the changes, but not the original.

You know, you speak too much. Anyway, he's right. This is an AU of TOS, and I am using a Link from the Zelda universe that doesn't exist. That's right, I created a new Link. I'm not going to spoil the story though, so you'll have to read on to find out what I've changed.

**Link**: I do not speak too much!

Never mind, on with the story.

* * *

"Link!" The young boy in question, no older than 13, sat up quickly in bed, sweating profusely. He looked for the origin of the voice that he'd heard as clear as a bell, but the only thing he saw in his room was the wooden bed he was sleeping on, the picture of his family on the table, and his wooden sword and shield that his uncle had carved for him sitting in the corner of the room. Undeterred, and also unable to sleep anymore, Link slowly got out of bed, wiping the sleep from his eyes as he did so.

"Link!" This time the voice interrupted a really strong yawn.

"Who's there," he asked the darkness.

"Good, you can hear me. Hurry, you must come to the castle immediately!"

"Who…" Link made sure his eyes weren't deceiving him and that his room was indeed empty. "Where is that voice coming from?"

"Link! You must hurry! I am speaking to you through the power of telepathy. It is a trait known only to those of royal blood and sages of the realm. Please, I don't have much time left. They're coming back soon. Hurry!"

"But… I don't even know how to get into the castle!" Link felt a little foolish, speaking into an empty room, but this person talking to him seemed to be important and in great danger. He couldn't help but feel the need to rush to their defense.

"Link, I will guide you. Just hurry."

"Okay. I'm on my way." Link rushed about the room as quietly as he could, gathering his brand new forest green tunic he'd just gotten for his birthday yesterday and putting it on. Once he was satisfied that the belt he fastened around his waist would hold the ensemble together, he donned the large cone shaped hat and headed to the door of his room. He stopped momentarily to gather his shield and sword, which he had ingeniously named 'Woody', and then he slowly opened his door and peeked into the hallway.

Seeing a dark and foreboding stretch of wooden paneled hallway in front of him, Link swallowed hard and crept into the darkness. He had to hurry to help whoever this person calling to him was. Making his way down the hallway by feel alone, he emerged into the front room of the small house he lived in with his parents.

He picked up a lantern from the table and using the small bit of magic his grandfather had taught him how to use, he lit the wick. Now having a source of light to guide his footsteps, he stopped and looked around the room. He felt like he was about to step into a world from which he'd never return. But after thinking about it for several seconds, he realized that it didn't matter. He had to go. Without a second thought, he ran out into the dark streets of downtown Castle Town.

"Go left here, and at the end of the alley, push the second stone from the bottom of the middle."

"Got it," Link said aloud, holding the lantern above his head as he ran to light the way. He reached the end of the alley and started searching for the stone that the voice had told him about. As he searched, he could hear the footsteps of guards far above, patrolling on the top of the wall that surrounded the night enshrouded grounds of Hyrule Castle. After pushing on nearly all the blocks that the wall had to offer, he finally found the right one. When the wall moved back and away to reveal a dark passage that lead into the depths of the castle depths, the voice spoke to him again.

"Link, in order to get into the castle and to where I'm being kept prisoner, you must travel through the sewer. On the other side is a door that leads directly into the castle basement. Hurry Link, there isn't much time left."

Link set his jaw and charged into the darkness once more. He was slightly amused by the fact that he seemed to be doing that a lot tonight. But he pushed such thoughts and emotions aside as he confronted sewer rats the size of a cucco and snakes even bigger than that. He pulled out his trusty sword and shield and started hacking and slashing his way through the den of darkness with somewhat clumsy maneuvers. Several of the vile creatures scratched him, cut him, and knocked him nearly senseless. But he didn't let that stop him. He just kept on going forward, focused intently on his goal of saving whoever this person was. Finally, after slaying many a snake and rat, a slightly bloodied Link arrived at the door that lead into Hyrule Castle.

On the other side of the door, Link ran into a problem. There were four different paths that he could take. Two went down, one went off in another direction, and the fourth went upwards. He was about to head down the tunnel when he received yet another, much more faint telepathic message.

"Link… own bel… dungeon. Hurry!" Link didn't hesitate to launch himself down the nearest downward set of stairs. He was skipping over several steps of the spiral staircase as he descended down into the deepest innards of Hyrule Castle. When he finally reached the bottom, he skidded to a halt on the rough stone floor as he came face to face with an armored behemoth.

Seeing no other way around the large armored guard, Link did the only thing he could think of, he ran in head first. It was only providence, the good will of the goddesses above, and a bit of luck that the guard turned just as Link reached him, completely missing the small boy running past him and behind his back. Link couldn't believe what had happed either, but he didn't waste any time standing there to think about it. He had a job to do.

He entered another set of stairs and, much to his aching legs relief it ended after what seemed like one story of descent. On the next floor Link emerged onto, Link saw his goal. In the back of the room was a row of jail cells. And just as Link stepped onto the floor, a minimally armed guard was pulling the one who'd been telepathically summoning him, the Heir of Hyrule, Princess Zelda. Link gripped the hilt of his sword tighter and readjusted the grip he had on his shield. Then he rushed in.

The battle was a swift one. The guard had, unlike the previous one, seen Link coming. So he let go of the princess to quickly unsheathe his sword and face the crazed boy running full tilt at him. That was when the princess punched him in the side of his unarmored head. That blow, which couldn't have killed a fly much less hurt the guard, had distracted him long enough for Link to close the distance and bash him in the head with his shield. The guard would have recovered easily, but Link leaped at the much taller man and kicked him in the head. That as well would not have been enough to take out the guard, but he flew back far enough to slam face first into the stone wall where he slumped to the ground unconscious.

"Thank you, Link." The young boy turned to the princess and bowed.

"It was no problem princess."

"Please," she said anxiously, "get up. We are not clear of danger yet. Surely you have felt it. An evil presence pervades the Castle. I am sad to say that this great evil has already gotten to my father, the King." Link stood up and took the princess' hand.

"Don't worry Princess," he said, "I'll protect you."

"Hahahahaha. I'm sure you would have kid." Zelda looked up and gasped. Link spun around and held his shield and sword at the ready. "But not this time around." The man speaking slowly walked into the center of the room. His dark green tinged skin made him look like he was the remains of a once might man, the rest of him burned away by the utterly evil presence that radiated from him. So evil was this presence that Link could barely stand to look at him without his eyes starting to sting and get all teary. "Well, now that we have you both here, why don't I end this worthless cycle once and for all?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," shouted Link, "But I won't let you harm the Princess."

"Ah," chuckled the dark skinned man, "Courageous to the last. Such is your gift. Not that it's any use to me. Now it's time you both were banished from this dimension. Say good by, to your dear land Princess. For you and the boy will never set foot here again."

"It doesn't matter what you do to us Gannondorf," shouted the princess defiantly, "you will never gain the power of the Gods!"

"I don't need it anymore. I'll just get rid of you two and then there won't be anything, or anyone, strong enough to oppose me. Now, it is time for you to go." With a mighty roar, the man named Gannondorf held up his right hand in a fist. On the back of his hand was a glowing symbol that consisted of three golden triangles, the top most of which was glowing the brightest.

Link hoisted his shield higher in front of him, preparing to intercept any attack that the larger, bulkier, and quite imposing man was preparing. He moved so that he was directly between the princess and Gannondorf. The King of Evil smiled sinisterly and reared his fist back. Link braced himself for the attack he knew was coming. However, instead of punching at or in any direction that Link and Zelda were standing, he slammed his golden ball of a hand into the ground.

Immediately the ground began to shake and shimmy, a great roar filled the air, and streams of golden light shot out along the floor, as if it were pain dribbling down a wall at super extreme speeds. Zelda reached out and grabbed Link for support as she collapsed. Link, somehow, stood steadfast in the midst of what looked like certain doom. The golden lines formed an enormous rune circle around the two, the intricacy of the patters that were formed were well beyond anything that had ever been concocted by magi before.

Even the great King of Evil hadn't known what was going to happen when he unleashed this spell. All he knew was that when all was said and done, and the bright golden rune circle had exploded with a dull thud, when the rumbling and the great ground shake had come to a complete stop, the would be hero and the princess of Hyrule were gone. Leaving him the uncontested ruler of the world. And that was all he, Gannondorf, had ever cared about.

* * *

When Link woke up, he wasn't in the castle. He was in the middle of a forest. His sword and shield were gone. And he was alone. He looked for the Princess, whom he was sure had been sucked into whatever that attack was with him. When he came up empty handed, he followed the path that he'd stumbled across while looking, hoping that it would lead to someplace in Hyrule that he was familiar with. At all cost, he sword that he would make that Gannondorf pay for what he did, as soon as he found out where Gannondorf was. 

It didn't take long before Link was completely lost, for the poor boy was born without any sense of direction. The entire day he walked, passing the same point five times before he found a berry bush and sat down to eat. The berries were like nothing he'd ever seen in Hyrule, but they were also the most delicious thing he'd ever eaten. Half an hour later, he was moaning and holding his midsection as all the berries he'd eaten started giving him cramps.

Sitting down on the ground, and sitting still, while trying to deal with the pain that his abdomen was giving him, Link realized that he could hear running water. He also realized, a bit slowly, that running water almost always led out of forests. After sitting for another fifteen minutes in hopes that his stomach would calm down, which it didn't, Link started walking toward the sound of running water.

He'd just about reached the water, clearly the stream was much closer than it had sounded, when he was hit from behind and sent flying over a hedge and into the small creek that he had been searching for. When he finally managed to sit up, soaking wet, he found his attacker had been no bigger than a rabbit. In fact, his attacker had been a rabbit. A white, fluffy, red eyed, frothing at the mouth rabbit, with razor sharp fangs and claws.

Link raised his arms to fend off the rabbit as it jumped at him. The creature never reached him. With a cry of "Demon Fang!", a wave of energy roared across the ground and slammed into the rabbit. The creature gave off a pitiful cry and exploded in a puff of smoke.

Link lowered his arms and looked around for the rabbit and then the source of the strange attack. He found his savior in a red gloved hand thrust into his face. Link took the hand and was hauled up by another teenager who looked a few years older than he was.

"Hi. I'll bet you're glad I came along." Link could only nod and smile. This guy was the strangest dressed man he'd ever seen. Not to mention that he didn't have pointed ears, which irked Link the most, since the only other person he'd ever seen that didn't have pointed ears like everyone else in Hyrule was Gannondorf.

"Uh… heh heh, are you just going to stand there and stare at me all day. Sheesh, you look just like Professor Raine does when she's talking about the Martel Temple Ruins."

"I… uh… sorry." Link sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and looked down. "I've just never seen anyone who looked quite like you. Uh, could you tell me, which province of Hyrule this is? I've got to get back there as soon as possible."

"Huh? Hyrule?" Lloyd scratched his head in confusion. "I've never heard of that place before. Is it near Palmacosta? If it is, that's all the way across the ocean." Link shook his head and repressed a disgruntled sigh. He wouldn't get anywhere if he let his emotions control him. He had to keep a clear head.

"No, I've never heard of any place called Palmacosta." _Palmacosta?_ Link thought. _I've never heard of that place before. I wonder if the spell that Gannondorf used teleported Zelda and me to another continent. If so, I wonder how far away from Hyrule I am. _Lloyd looked deep in thought when an idea dawned on him. _And now that I'm thinking about it, where did the princess go?_

"Oh, I know," Lloyd said, snapping his fingers, "we should ask the Professor. She knows everything. She should know where this Hyrule is. Come on, I was on my way to school anyway, I'll take you there."

"Okay." This Professor was his only hope then. "Oh, by the way, my name is Link. What's yours?"

"Well, normally, I don't give my name out freely. But for some reason I feel I can trust you. My name is Lloyd, Lloyd Irving."

"Lloyd huh? Well, Lloyd, it's nice to meet you." Link reached out and shook hands with Lloyd.

"Heh, you too Link," responded the other boy.

The two of them started making their way, and with a little help from Lloyd's much better sense of direction, the two finally made it out of the forest. Thus began the journey of the Hero of Hyrule.

* * *

Yeah, that's that.

**Link**: "Hey, what the heck happened to me? And where is the princess?"

Eh... I don't know if I want to continue this story. It will depend heavily on what the reviewers think. So if you thought this was good and want to see it continued, please tell me. I seriously have too many stories going, so if I don't have to continue this it's no sweat off my back, though I will continue if enough people want me to.


	2. The Great Spin

Hello again.

**Link**: "Welcome back. So, do I get to live?"

Yes. I would like to thank _Jenova Remnant AKA Fishie_,_Dragon of Twilight_,_WhiteFoxDemon_, _freakyanimegal456_,_Zoray Zorial_, and _Canada Cowboy_ for reviewing and showing support for this story.

**Link**: (On his knees with tears in his eyes bowing to the reviewers.) "Thank you!"

Okay, and now the disclaimer.

**Link**: "I.K.A. Valian doesn't own anything but me and the changes to the story."

You still talk too much.

**Link**: "I do not!"

On with the story.

* * *

Gannondorf was pleased with himself. He single handedly ended the cycle of his destruction. Now he could use the Triforce of Power toward his own ends and shape both Hyrule and the Sacred Realm in his own image. He clenched his fist, leaned back, and commenced victory laughing in great heaves. All in the castle who heard the evil laughter cringed or cried out in fear.

Gannondorf decided, once he finished laughing, that he wanted to tour his new everlasting kingdom. _No,_ he reminded himself, _I decided to call it an empire. It sounds more domineering._ Gannondorf walked, chuckling to himself, all the way to the stables that were built a mile away from the castle. The peasants of Hyrule who gathered the courage to glance his way were traumatized by the towering figure as he strutted by. He never noticed the bright golden light shining forth from inside of the castle…

* * *

"Lloyd Irving!" The said red clad boy winced. He'd expected this. "Lloyd Irving, where have you been? You've been late before, but never this late!" Lloyd stared up at the overpowering image that the teacher, Professor Sage, projected.

"I'm sorry, Professor Sage. I swear it won't happen again." Lloyd cowered beneath the Professor's piercing gaze with his hands protectively around his head.

Raine Sage, a youthful woman with silver hair and a stern look, shifted to focus on Link. He audibly swallowed under her penetrating sight. With her arms crossed and fingers idly tapping, Raine waited, slowly letting the immensity of the situation sink in. "Who are you?" she asked.

"My name is Link, ma'am." Link didn't know why, but he felt like he was under inspection by the King. He kept his back straight as an arrow and avoided looking into the Professor's eyes.

"Professor it happened like this. I was on my way to school when-" And Lloyd was off, describing in minute every single thing that happened since he left his house that morning. By time Lloyd got to the end of his marathon rant, five minutes went by and the Professor still wasn't impressed.

"I suppose in the end that it is better to be late than to let someone die. Come, Lloyd, you will hold two buckets today."

"Only two? Yes!" Lloyd punched his fist into the air and ran into the school house. Link could see him talk with a few students before he moved to the back of the building and stood there.

"What are we going to do with you?" Link swallowed audibly again and turned back to the Professor. He found a surprising soft and gentle look was now on her face, one which reminded Link of the Princess'. "Lloyd said you were looking for someplace called Hyrule. I'm afraid I don't know where that is. I've studied this world's geography since I was young and I have never heard of 'Hyrule'. "

Link balked. The words she spoke ricocheted in Link's mind like an errant Deku Seed. How could they not have heard of Hyrule? He could remember being taught that Hyrule was the pre-eminent kingdom of the land almost from its creation by the Three Goddesses. If they didn't know anything about Hyrule, then this wasn't his home. He was in a strange land, full of different people and places. And now he knew, he was cut off from his home, possibly forever.

No. He needed to have faith that there was a way to get back home. There just had to be. And no matter what was thrown his way, he'd get back to Hyrule. And together, with the Princess, he'd kick that Gannondorf back into the Evil Realm.

"Link." The boy looked up at Raine, a bit startled when she put her hand on his shoulder. "You look a bit pale, are you alright?" Link nodded and took a deep breath. "Good," she said, "then until you feel alright and can explain your situation better, I'd like you to stay in my class today." Link glanced into the class room and saw a homely setting. It actually looked a lot like his old school in Hyrule Castle Town.

"Alright." Link followed Raine into the school house. He took a seat behind a desk next to a blond girl dressed in black. She smiled cheerfully at him, which he responded in kind. As the lesson commenced, Link's thoughts drifted to the Princess. Where was she? Was she out of harm? Did she come to this world with Link?

"Hey!" Link was shaken out of his thoughts by the blond next to him. He blinked a few times and looked at the blond with a curious glance. "I'm Colette. Who are you?"

"Chosen One, please be silent for the lesson!" Colette quickly faced forward.

"Yes ma'am, sorry ma'am" she said with a smile. After Raine went back to lecturing about the ruins of some ancient tower, Colette turned back to Link and waited with an arched eyebrow and a smirk.

Link, a clever boy, waited till Raine's back was facing the other way before he whispered, "My name is Link."

"Yo, Link." Colette snorted, and then quickly faced forward with Raine, still lecturing, turned around and paced back the other way. Link glanced back at Lloyd standing in the back of the room. He was slightly shocked to find that he'd fallen asleep while holding the two wooden buckets filled to the brim with water. _And he was happy to only have to hold two? What's up with that guy?_

Colette noticed the look Link made. The moment that Raine spun around and started her slow trek back to the front of the room, she whispered, "He always falls asleep in class. Every day." Link silently acknowledged what the blond said.

Raine turned around to make her next trip toward the back of the class when she stopped mid sentence. She was staring at Lloyd and the book in her hand was shaking slightly. "Lloyd!" she shouted. When she got no response, she shouted again. "Lloyd!" Still, no response. Raine took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. She put the book she was holding down calmly. Picked up an eraser. And then, with a mighty heave, threw the rectangular black object at Lloyd. As it sailed through the air, Raine shouted, "Lloyd Irving, wake up!"

Link watched the eraser sail end over end through the air, his hands on his ears to block out the shouting that he'd seen coming. The eraser smashed into Lloyd's head with an audible thunk. What woke the twin swordsman up wasn't the eraser. Rather, it was the fall to the floor. The class broke into hushed giggling watching Lloyd scramble to stand back up and Raine running to the back of the classroom.

"Ow… Oh! Uh, Professor Raine, is class over?" Link couldn't believe what he just heard. He'd seen a number of slackers in his own school. He was one of them. But he never saw someone this dense before. Link's Uncle often told him he was goal oriented. He needed a clear goal to excel. The thought that Lloyd might be like Link in that respect enabled Link to empathize with him.

Raine picked up the eraser and stared incredulously at Lloyd. Finally, she asked, "How do you sleep standing?" Lloyd shrugged and picked his buckets back up. "Never mind. Genis. Will you tell us who ended Kharlan war?"

"Yes Raine." A short kid who sat in the row on the other side of Colette stood up and cleared his throat. The kid's voice itched Link's brain because it sounded so familiar, but he just couldn't remember where from. "Mithos, the hero, brought about the end of the Ancient War in the Holy Ground of Kharlan."

Then Link remembered. He sounded just like the class bully, Lanieu. The bully never really bothered Link, probably because he always fought back. Link usually saw the guy making the little kid's give him their rupees. Whenever Link caught him, he'd try to make Lanieu give the money back, which usually ended up with them both in detention. This kid, Genis, didn't look anything like Lanieu though. He looked like the opposite.

When Link came back from his private musings, he heard Colette talking. What she said was confusing. A goddess named Martel. Desians. A Journey of Regeneration. It was so foreign to Link that he hurt his head thinking about it. Raine explained that Desians were to blame for all the natural disasters plaguing this land, something which Link could associate with. Gerudo had been raiding Hyrule for a few years, killing innocent villagers and merchants. Something about these Desians made Link's stomach churn.

Suddenly, a light comparable to the surface of the sun filled the air. The whole class fell deathly silent and stared out the window toward a distant stone building with a plume of light reaching high into the sky.

"Everyone remain calm." Raine walked over to the window and looked out. Link swore he saw her clearing her eyes in disbelief. He'd already seen enough in this world to be ready for anything. So he thought that this light was normal. Apparently, it wasn't. "I'm going to check on the Temple. I want the rest of you to stay here and study, understood." Before anyone could replay, Raine bolted for the doorway. She jumped over one poor boy sitting in his desk and scooted by another. Just before she could leave though, Colette stood up.

"Professor! Lemme come!"

"No Colette. When the time is right, the priests will come here to get you. Wait here with everyone else."

"Oh fine." Colette sat down in her chair and started staring into space. Lloyd watched Raine leave and then tracked her as she made her way out of the village toward the ruins in the distance. When she was out of sight, he dropped the buckets and started heading for the door.

Before he could leave the silver haired kid, who Link thought looked a lot like the Professor, jumped in front of the door. "Lloyd! What do you think you're doing? Don't tell me you're sneaking out! Raine will get mad!

"I'm want find out what happens to Colette when she receives the oracle. They always talk about the Chosen of Regeneration and the Day of Prophecy, but no one tells us what happens." Now that Lloyd said it, Link was curious too. Link stood up and went to the window. Just as he did, several men wielding weapons ran past in the direction of the Temple.

"Hey Link!" Link turned around. "Do you wanna come with us to the Temple?" Lloyd stood with Colette and Genis by the door. Link did want to explore that temple, but he was worried about those men. If they were going to get in trouble, he was going to need some kind of sword.

"Sure," he replied, "But I'm going to need a sword."

* * *

Link had never used a saber before, much less two of them. He held the new wooden blades, inspecting them, as the four of them approached the exit of the town. The curved edge of the blade was a novel idea that he'd never seen before. Link didn't exactly know what the advantage of a curved blade was, but he was sure he'd find out eventually. Link placed the two sheathes behind his back where "Woody" would have gone.

"So are we all set?" Everyone nodded at the same time. "Good, let's go."

"Colette!" A blond man ran up to the group while waving his arms about frantically.

"Father?" The man stopped in front of them and rested on his knees.

"Thank goodness you're safe," he said. "Desians have invaded." Link's eyes widened. So that was who those men were.

"What happened to the villagers," asked Genis.

"They are all in hiding. Thankfully no one was hurt."

"I think I saw them heading for the same place that the Professor went." Link pointed off toward the ruins. "I saw a bunch of strange men heading that way when I looked out of the window."

"What's going on? Don't the Desians and Iselia have a peace treaty?"

"You mean that agreement where they leave the village alone if we leave the ranch alone?" Genis nodded. Frank kneeled down in front of Genis.

"I don't know what's happening," Frank told Genis, "but I can assure you it isn't supposed to."

"Hey, didn't the Professor go to the ruins?" Link asked.

"Yeah." Genis looked forlornly toward the ruins. "We've got to save sis."

"There is no need to worry, Colette. There are a handful of priests at the temple now. You should focus on receiving the Oracle."

"What?" Link had a hard time believing that. "If these Desians are as bad as you people say they are, then of course there's a reason to worry."

Lloyd nodded. "Link's right, if there are Desians there, then someone needs to do something. And we're the only one's who can. Besides," Lloyd jerked a thumb toward the beam of light rising into the sky, "Colette still has to receive the Oracle right?"

Frank sighed in defeat. "I suppose you are right. Raine isn't the only one there. Phaidra is also."

Colette grew worried. "Grandmother is at the temple?!" Frank nodded. Colette turned toward the distant ruins and her face grew serious. "Then it's up to us. Let's go boys!" Colette took off before anyone could get a word in. The three boys looked at each other, shrugged, and followed the Chosen. Frank was left behind, unable to even attempt to talk them out of it.

Before they could leave the village, the ground started to move. The four skidded to a stop in front of a large corps that popped out of the ground. Link and Lloyd unsheathed their swords. Genis pulled out something that looked like a hammer with a ball tied on top. Colette stopped, then crossed her arms, and then whipped them out straight. Two nasty looking knifes appeared in her hands. She twirled them about in her palms as the group studied the monster.

"I think it's a zombie," said Genis.

"Well, let's kill this thing." Lloyd jumped at the undead creature slowly walking toward them. Suddenly it let out a shriek so piercing that the three behind Lloyd had to cover their ears, while Lloyd suddenly froze mid step. "Uh, guys… Help!"

"It's not a regular Zombie. It's a Redead!" Link jumped into Lloyd and the both of them rolled out of the way as the Redead went to 'hug' Lloyd. "They have the ability to paralyze anyone with their scream, so watch out!"

Lloyd nodded and two leaped forward again, slashing at the beast back like crazy. Genis was off in the distance, waves of heat coalescing about him. Colette was dashing in and out, stabbing the thing when ever she got close and then ripping her knife out and a chunk of the Redead's body with it.

Lloyd shouted, "Demon Fang!" and sent a wave of energy along the ground and into the Redead. The creature let loose an unearthly roar as it felt the impact and its knee's buckled. But it wasn't completely finished until moments later when Genis shouted, "Fire Ball!" and fired three balls of fire into the undead creature. Finally, it was dead.

"Yeah," shouted Lloyd, "that was easy!"

"You're amazing Lloyd," Colette gushed, before she caught herself.

"Ah… I owe it to this thing." Link focused on the jewel Lloyd pointed to on the back of his hand.

"Oh, right, the Exsphere." Genis was peering at it closely. Lloyd self-consciously wrapped his hand in a cloth.

"Yeah. It's designed for combat and brings out my maximum strength. Without this thing, I'd be nothing."

"That's not true Lloyd." Colette punched Lloyd lightly in the shoulder. He rubbed it playfully, like it had really hurt. Colette smirked unapologetically. "You're pretty strong."

"Yeah, at least his sword skills are good." Genis smirked and started walking.

Lloyd stood there for a second before he followed after Genis shouting, "Hey, what do you mean 'at least'?"

Link could only shake his head. These guys reminded him of the guards that lived in his neighborhood. They were always cracking jokes that his mother said weren't nice, but hey always seemed to be in the best of spirit's, even if the weather was horrid during their patrol.

It wasn't long before they ran into another monster. This time it was a ghost and another Redead. Almost immediately, the scream of the redead paralyzed Genis. While Colette held the Redead off of Genis, Link attempted to fight the ghost.

He found that by channeling a bit of magic along his blade, he could do a moderate amount of damage to it. Lloyd tried to help, but his wooden sword just passed through the ghost's body.

Colette was doing a good job of holding the undead thing off. Then it screamed again, and she became paralyzed. Link nodded at Lloyd and he stopped trying to hurt the ghost and went after the Redead. Not long after that the Redead screamed again and Link became the only one of the group who was able to move. Link quickly summed up the situation and decided that he had to use the secret technique that his uncle had taught him.

* * *

_- - - Backflash - - -_

_"Okay Link, try it again."_

_A 9 year old Link picked up Woody and charged at the wooden post that his uncle was standing next to. He slashed at it horizontally twice, vertically three times, and then for a final blow, Link stabbed it as hard as he could. The wooden post tipped over a little from the force of the blow._

_"Wow, Link!" Link beamed a smile up at his uncle. "Have you been practicing?" Link nodded. "Well it shows. You, my boy, are ready to learn the family's secret technique."_

_"A secret technique, Uncle?"_

_"Yes, it has been passed down our family line from the ancient hero himself."_

_"Wow!"_

_"All you have to do is plant your feet on the ground, twist around as far as you can, and then spin as fast as you can for as long as you can."_

_"That's it?"_

_"That's it. The rest is up to the sword."_

_"Okay uncle I'm going to try it." Link's uncle nodded and stepped away from the wooden post. Link set his feet flat on the ground. Then he twisted around as far as he could to his left. And then… he fell over. "Ow…"_

_"Hahahahaha!" His uncle walked over and picked the trite young Link up. "Don't worry Link. You'll get it with practice, I'm sure." Three month's later, Link's uncle disappeared. Link never got to show him the technique._

_- - - end backflash - - -_

* * *

"Hang on guys!" Link gripped his new twin sabers and leaped in between the ghost and the Redead. He planted his feet on the ground, twisted around as far as he could go and with a continuous shout, started spinning. Magic trickled into the blades, a trick Link had learned made the attack stronger, and made them glow. The blades sliced into both the Redead and ghost over and over until they fell over dead.

When Link stopped spinning, and he did so long after the beasts were dead, he took a few drunken steps and fell onto the ground. The world was spinning when three grinning faces appeared above him.

"Wow! That was so cool!" Link would have agreed, because the attack had never been that powerful before and now he had a headache. Maybe he used too much magic. Lloyd and Colette picked him up and held him steady.

"I didn't know you could use magic." Link looked at Genis only to slowly start turning and falling. Lloyd caught him again and slung Link's arm over his shoulder.

"Yeah," said Link, his vision swimming. "Just don't ask me to do that again any time soon. I used too much of it."

"What was that attack?" Link rolled his head like a marionette to look at Lloyd.

"It's a secret technique passed down in my family called the Great Spin. It combines magic and physical exertion to increase damage and speed. But… it makes me extremely dizzy. My uncle told me that the greatest masters of the technique could keep it going for hours without ever getting dizzy."

"I've never heard of magic being used like that before." Genis looked almost starry eyed.

"It doesn't look easy." Link nodded at Colette.

"Not easy at all," Link agreed.

"It doesn't look like there are any more monsters around her," Lloyd noted, "let's get going." The others nodded and off they went. After fighting several more monsters and trekking back to Iselia for more supplies, they finally arrived at the base of the hill which the ruins of the Martel Temple were located. Huge blocks of grey stone littered the ground. But the main attraction was the plume of light rising from the roof of the temple into the sky.

"Whoa! That light really is coming from the temple!" Colette squinted up at the light and then punched Lloyd in the arm. He scowled and rubbed his arm. Genis chuckled behind his back.

"No duh, Lloyd. Where else would the light be coming from?"

"The oracle is going to be conveyed. Colette is going to become the Chosen of Regeneration."

"What exactly is the Chosen of Regeneration?"

There was a short pause before Colette asked, "Did you just say what I thought you said?"

"Uh… Link's not exactly from around here." Lloyd scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Anyway, we doing this, or not?"

"Yeah," Colette said with a nod, "Let's go." The four ran up the stairs. When they were half way up the fairly long set of weather-worn steps, the sounds of battle started filtering down. "Hey, guys, I hear something."

"It's probably the Desians!" shouted Lloyd. He pumped his legs harder and started pulling ahead of the rest of the group. Link, knowing that Lloyd would be facing the danger alone, pumped his legs harder as well. Call it juvenile stupidity, or adolescent rivalry, but the two of them came to an understanding. One of them had to get to the top first.

Link, gradually, pulled ahead. There were only four steps left. Lloyd was two behind Link. They were neck and neck. And then, Link tripped. He flew over the edge of the top, spun head over heels, and landed in a heap at the feet of four soldiers. Link coughed and was hauled to his feet by one of the soldiers.

"Hey, we got another one!" Link tried to see the soldiers' face, but the strange visor he wore made that impossible. Reacting before he could properly think about what he was doing, Link kicked as hard as he could. His foot connected with the soldier's chest and Link heard two satisfying snapping noises. Link dropped to the ground and scrambled back to stand with Lloyd, Genis, and Colette.

"Nice one," Colette commented.

"Link!" Link shifted his focus from the soldiers that surrounded the four of them to a tall blond in the back next to an old woman.

"P-Princess Zelda!"

* * *

Again, thanks to all the reviewers. I hope this lives up to your expectations. And what did you think of the new Colette. I wanted to make her less of an air head, and more of a fighter. And now she wears a black version of her white outfit.

Thanks for reading. And all reviews are greatly appreciated.


	3. The Man Who Would Be Mercenary

I would like to thank my reviewers from chapter two. Jenova Remnant AKA Fishie, Kazekasai, Zoray Zorial, Link-luvr, WhiteFoxDemon, freakyanimegal456, link 2701, Tobiasa, and finally, InkyManipulation. You guys are a real boost in the motivation dept. Thanks again! And I must also answer some concerns as well.

**Link**: Ha! You messed up!

Shut it, you. Okay, first I must address Colette's clothing. That is, her new clothing. Colette's clothes are all black except for the white trim that replaces the blue trim on the white version and the bronze or gold buckle thingies(I'm not good with clothing terms), those buckle things are now silver. Other than that, this Colette and the original look exactly the same. Same hair, eyes, teeth… ears, you get the idea. You can see a picture of what the original Colette costume looked like on Wikipedia if you really want to.

**Link**: And the other thing?

Oh yeah, your new swords. I would like to thank Zoray Zorial for pointing this out to me. Link got a new pair of twin sabers, not Lloyd's. I didn't make a point of telling that in the last chapter, in fact, I skipped right over it. What actually happened was, Link went on a coffee break and Lloyd ran down to the props dept for another set. Silly me… I need to stop forgetting things… See reviewers? You help me write a better, more complete story, so keep 'em coming! And if you have any suggestions, feel free to suggest them.

**Link**: That's not what happened!

Okay then, what happened?

**Link**: I did go on a coffee break, with Genis and Colette. Lloyd ran down by to the props dept. by himself.

(Sigh) Just say the disclaimer!

**Link**: I.K.A. Valian doesn't own the Zelda or Tales franchises, but he does own this story plot and me I guess… but only because I'm not from any game that has been made… as of yet…

You still talk too much…. On with the story!

* * *

Link limped to his right, having trouble standing after being knocked back by the giant Desian Vidarr who was attacking the group with an oversized hammer and a spiked ball on a chain. He fell to the ground in a cloud of dust and watched the others fight the giant man. Lloyd glimpsed this and managed to toss an apple gel at Link while rolling to avoid the hammer swipe aimed at his head.

Link picked up and gave the strange gel substance the once over. When he saw Colette telling him to eat it, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and swallowed the thing whole. The slimy substance slid into his mouth and left a slug trail over his tongue. At first it tasted like apple, which surprised Link. That quickly faded and the essence of something foul took its place.

"Link!" Link's head turned and he saw one of the Desians holding the Princess. He was the leader, Lord Botta. Botta had a knife pressed against Zelda's neck. Link didn't get a chance to leap at the funnily dressed man, as much as he wanted to. Vidarr roared and charged at Link with great heaving stomping steps that shook the very ground as he went.

Link rolled away just as Vidarr's hammer slammed into the ground. That left a gaping hole when he wrenched the hammer back out. He sprang up and regrouped with Colette, Genis, and Lloyd against the railing. Vidarr stood up and started swinging his chained ball around his head as menacingly as he could, which was pretty intimidating.

"This guy's strong!" Genis was breathing heavily with arm pressed tightly across his abdomen. Blood was trickling down the side of his temple and he had trouble keeping his head up. The kendama held loosely in his other hand was lazily swinging back and forth.

Colette wasn't in much better condition. Her hair was matted with sweat from dashing into battle and then out again. Her knives were chipped in several places and her black dress was torn up. Strangely enough, she wasn't as winded as Genis. Link was wondering about this until she downed another Apple Gel.

Lloyd grunted, gripped his sword hilts tighter, and charged forward. Link was about to follow him in when Lloyd came sailing back through the air. Lloyd grunted as he touched down on the ground and slid to a halt, creating a trial of dust in the air. As Lloyd was standing back up he winced and said, "Man, this guy is really tough."

Vidarr stomped his foot down, causing all four teens to jump into the air. "Now you die," he roared with his guttural accent. The giant of a Desian swung his spiked ball over his head faster and faster. Link jumped in front of the group, intending to fend off the attack. But just as Vidarr swung the ball forward, Link was shoved out of the way by something much larger than he was. The newcomer repelled the spiked ball with a single swing of his sword. The rebound was so strong that it sent the giant, heavyweight Desian reeling backwards.

"Who are you," he heard Lloyd ask. Link cleared the dust from his eyes in a bid to get a better look at the person who saved them. It was a tall, dark red, almost auburn haired man. He wore a set of purple clothes and a cape that was split down the middle. In his right hand was a sword and in the other was a shield.

"Get out of the way," shouted the man in purple.

The four teens shifted their attention back to Vidarr as he stood up. He growled miserably at the purple donned warrior. Lloyd didn't even listen to what the older man had said, he charged right in with Link and the others on his heels. The older man hissed between his teeth and charged after them.

With the added might of the new purple clad warrior, Vidarr went down very fast. It wasn't but a few minutes later that a billow of dust was thrown into the air as the large Desian slammed into the ground and gurgled his last breaths.

Link was tired now, he could barely keep his swords level. But he turned toward Lord Botta anyway and pointed the blades at him. "Release the Princess now, or you're next!"

Botta though, wasn't fixated by the young, green wearing swordsman. Instead he was gawking open mouthed at the new warrior that had helped turn the tide of the battle. Even the knife that he once held at the Princess' neck was slack enough for her to push his arm away. She ran to the other side of the clearing and stood beside Link and Lloyd.

"Damn," said Botta, "I never though you'd show up. Retreat for now." The rest of the Desians that were standing around the area but had not fought followed their leader's orders and bolted. To the purple warrior, Botta said, "Until we meet again." After that, Botta jumped over the railing surrounding the plateau upon which the battle had taken place.

"Hmph, he's pretty good!" Colette sheathed her knives at her belt and crossed her arms. She was giving the tall auburn haired man an appraising look. The Princess and Link were as well, but they said nothing.

"...Y...yeah," mumbled Lloyd. "I...I suppose so." Genis chuckled behind Lloyd's back and when the older boy turned to investigate, the silver haired magician was as innocent looking as the day he was born. The purple warrior snorted dismissively at the retreating Desians and sheathed his sword. He turned around and assessed everyone still standing.

"Is everyone alright?" he asked, finally. "Hmm, no one seems to be hurt." As everyone gather around the new warrior, including an old woman who walked out of the temple, the princess touched Link's shoulder. He found her motioning for him to follow her to the edge of the plateau.

"Are you alright, Princess?" Link asked when they were far enough away from the others.

She nodded. "I was worried about you, Link. That battle was intense." Link rolled his eyes, and then realizing that he was in the presence of royalty, his face became red. Zelda giggled and smiled. Link, being the goofball he was, rubbed the back of his head and smiled too.

Zelda became serious, her smile fading, and looked out at the rest of the land and sea that was visible from their spot. Her eyes, though serious and calculating, were almost sad to Link. It depressed him a little when he realized that the two of them weren't in Hyrule anymore. Hyrule wasn't even on this planet.

"I'm sorry Link," the princess said finally. "I'm the one who got you into this. If I hadn't summoned you to rescue me from that vile man's clutches, none of this would have happened."

"It's okay, your highness," said Link. He touched Zelda's shoulder reassuringly and tried to put on the bravest face he had. "We'll find a way home somehow."

Zelda studied Link's face, as if trying to pierce through a mystery that wasn't there before. Finally though, she nodded. "Your right. I must have faith that the Goddesses will guide us home."

"Yo, Link!" Link turned and saw Lloyd waving at him. Curious, the boy and princess walked over to the red clad teen to see what he had to say. "Link, you've got to come with us into this temple!"

"I do?" Lloyd looked hurt for a second before he brushed the emotion away and grabbed Link by the hand.

"Just come on!" Lloyd dragged Link as he flailed about. No matter what Link did he couldn't get away from Lloyd. Zelda was laughing politely and waving him off, giving him her leave to go adventuring in the temple.

"Go Link," she said with a smile. "I'll be fine." The last Link saw of Zelda before Lloyd dragged him into the temple by his feet was the old woman who walked out of the temple leading her down the stairs.

Lloyd deposited Link in the center of a large, circular room. It was dark and musty. The ground, which Link was acquainted with on the way in, was made of dry stone that looked like it had been carved from the rock instead of laid by masons.

"Nice to see you join us, Link." Link dusted himself off and nodded a greeting at Colette. Then he started gazing about the place, noticing the placement of walls and stairs. He also took note of a peculiar stone table imbedded into the wall. It had a strange symbol on it that he'd never seen before, one that was strangely similar to the Triforce, but not exactly the same.

"I told you this isn't a field trip." Lloyd knew that the older man thought he was a nuisance from the tone of voice he spoke with. He didn't look very happy right now, in fact, he was constantly frowning.

"Awe, c'mon, Kratos. He's a really good fighter. And like you said, this temple is filled with monsters so we'll need all the help we can get, right?" Kratos huffed and walked off with his arms crossed. Genis came up beside Link and patted him on the back.

"It's okay," said the silver haired elf, "This guy's been acting that way since he found out that Lloyd and I were coming in here with Colette." Link looked curiously at Colette. She shrugged, innocent look on her face.

"I don't want to be alone with some strange man I've never met before. At least if Lloyd and Genis are here, then I'll have some protection."

"From who," asked Link curiously, "from the monsters or Kratos?"

Colette thought for a moment, tapping her finger on the side of her head as she considered the values of both answer. Eventually she said, "Both."

"Chosen, we don't have time to sit here and talk idly. I suggest that we move on and attempt to retrieve the oracle." Colette sulked and nodded. She walked up one of the sets of stairs and down the hallway, deeper into the temple. Everyone else followed her, except for Link and Lloyd.

"I was wondering… Who was that woman you were talking with? You two looked so much alike. Is she from that place called Hyrule too?" Link was surprised, and showed as much with his facial features.

"Yeah, she's the… uh… she's from Hyrule too." Link didn't think that telling Lloyd that Zelda was the Princess and ruler of Hyrule would have been the best course of action. Fortunately, Lloyd didn't seem to notice the slip up and grinned like an idiot.

"Hey, that's cool. Maybe Hyrule isn't as far away as you thought it was if another person from there managed to get here." Link smiled and nodded, happily going along with whatever Lloyd said.

"Hey, guys!" shouted Colette. "Get up here and check this magic barrier out." Lloyd ran up the stairs but Link stayed behind, eyeing the strange, Triforce like markings on the wall. He moved closer and put his hand against the stone. It was cool to the touch and almost seemed to respond to his hand.

Link turned and was about to walk up the stairs and join the others when he heard something grinding and scraping behind him. He turned and found that the wall with the symbol had vanished and was replaced with a dark tunnel. Link glanced once more at the others before he walked cautiously into the dark. The first step he took into the dark was a step into open air. He fell, screaming into the dark abyss that existed below the Martel Temple. After Link disappeared, the stone wall with the symbol on it slid up from the ground and sealed Link inside. The symbol on the wall was glowing golden yellow for several seconds before the light died down.

* * *

Yeah, I know this chapter is shorter than the others, but I felt better stopping it here than forcing another scene out of me in this chapter. Besides, now you good folks get to look forward to reading all about how Link explores and beats his first dungeon in a world that isn't Hyrule. Please review, and as always, thanks for reading! 


	4. Martel Temple Dungeon Part One

Okay… Thanks this time goes out to Zoray Zorial, Jenova Remnant AKA Fishie, freakyanimegal456, WhiteFoxDemon, link 2701, Tobiasa, and Canada Cowboy. Thanks again for reviewing guys and gals.

**Link**: "Yes, thank you, thank you!"

And remember, reviewing keeps this story going!

**Link**: "I live!"

Okay, disclaimer time. Say the disclaimer new guy.

**Link**: "I.K.A. Valian doesn't own the Zelda or TOS franchises. He does own the changes to the plot and me since I'm since I'm not an actual character in a game…. Sadly."

You know, you deserve your own game.

**Link**: "I do?!"

No.

**Link**: "Aww…"

* * *

The cave was very dark and smelled like the cave Link liked to play in. That cave was firmly on Link's mind as he walked forward cautiously. The lantern he held high in his hand cast dancing shadows on the walls of the stone tunnel he was in. He remembered being yelled at for exploring that cave and he never did forget what his mother had told him. 

"People go into those places and never come out." Her words echoed through Links' mind from ear to ear. After his sudden fall into the darkness, he believed those words now more than ever. But after a while, his curiosity had gotten the better of him and he ventured further down the tunnel he landed in.

Luckily, his lantern didn't fall off during the fall. His clammy fingers clinged to the metal handle like his life depended on it. Ever few minutes, he'd look over his shoulder, swearing that something had been there. But there never was. Link was completely alone in this silent tomb below the ground.

The tunnel emerged into a larger room, built with the same stone as the tunnel. In front of him was an unlit torch. Link pressed his lantern to it and the torch fire burst to life. Light filled the small room.

In the center of the room was a tall marble tablet with writing etched into it. Behind that, a closed door. Everywhere else there were cobwebs and skulls. _The skulls of those that never came back_, Link wondered. He stayed as far away from the skulls as possible.

Link walked up to the tablet and instantly recognized the writing as Ancient Hylian. He remembered seeing the same kind of writing at the museum in Hyrule. _What is Ancient Hylian doing in this place? Hyrule is nowhere near here._

"This has to be important," he said to himself. Link searched his body, but he couldn't find anything that he could write on. "I wish I could read this," Link lamented. He took one last look at the marble etchings and then exited though the door in the back of the room.

The door opened into another, smaller tunnel. Link made his way down this one a bit faster than the first, more confident that nothing would be jumping out at him from the shadows. The tunnel ended shortly after he entered it with another, much taller room. Link entered the room and lit the torch right next to the entrance.

Link was confronted by a huge, ancient, wooden door with an iron lock to match. Chains reached from the center lock to the walls around the door, keeping it shut. No matter how many times Link tried attacking it with his swords nothing broke the lock or snapped the chains. Link was about to give up and head back when he noticed that there were two more doors on the other sides of the room as well. They had chains locking them as well. Link had barely walked back toward the way he'd come when strong iron bars snapped up, trapping Link in the room.

"He, he, he, he…" Link spun around, his swords at the ready. Though he could have sworn the voice was right behind him, nothing was there. "So, someone's come to play with me, eh? Come, let's play!"

Link cautiously walked toward the center of the room, ready to take on whatever it was that wanted to 'play'. Two small explosions pulled his attention toward the enormous door. Sitting in front of it were two small, gelatinous creatures. One was read and the other was green. Both made Link's nose scrunch up.

With a deep squelching, the two blobs flubbed and flopped their way across the floor toward him. When the red one was in reach, it pulled into itself and like a spring launched into the air straight for Link.

Thinking fast, and with a hint of adrenalin, Link flipped backwards. He landed on both his feet but then fell onto his knees from the impact. His legs now stung from the exertion of acrobatic performance.

Link rubbed his legs just as the green blob prepared to spring at him. Link cried out as the green blob slammed into his chest and sent him skidding back into a wall. He shakily stood up and rubbed his chest.

Keeping his swords in front of him and no longer taking his eyes off of the blobs, Link decided that this 'game' wasn't fun at all. He stalked up to the red blob slowly and just as it was about to pounce, Link stabbed it with both his swords from above.

The creature cried out as it slowly deflated into a puddle of red, raunchy smelly goo. Repeating the same procedure with the green blob garnered Link a green puddle of smelly goo. Link wiped the sweat from his forehead and breathed a sigh of relief.

As he sheathed his swords, a small wooden box fell down from above with a crash. The contents spilled out upon impact and rolled to a stop at Links' feet. Link bent over and picked up the shiny silver key. _It's too small to fit in the large lock, that's obvious._

Link gave the two side doors a glance. _Maybe it will work on one of the smaller doors._ Link walked up to the door to the right of the large door and tried to put the key into the hole. After several attempts at making a square key fit into a round hole, Link gave up and strolled across the room to the other door.

The key pushed into the old rusted lock like a greased piston. Link gave the lock a questioning look before he reached out and turned the key. The key easily turned a full three hundred and sixty degrees and then, like an old woman running a marathon with a broken hip, the key snapped in half.

Link was about to curse his luck when the chains holding the door closed fell to the ground with the now open lock. Tossing the key stem away, Link ventured into this new area, and he let out a depressed sigh. Yes, it was another tunnel.

Link traveled down this tunnel warily. He wasn't sure whose voice that was. Whoever it was, they weren't very friendly. Link came to a stop in front of a large, gaping pit. He could see the bottom easily enough and he could probably climb out if he fell in. However, the tunnel continued on past the pit and he couldn't see himself climbing over the very high pit wall in the way.

Link scratched his head thought fully. Then, far above him, he heard someone shouting. Link looked up just in time to see a huge brown block fall through an equally sized hole in the ceiling. The block fell so fast and thudded to a stop inside of the pit so hard that it knocked Link off of his feet. Link stared ahead, unable to speak as he watched the dust settle.

Still stunned with wide eyed fear, Link barely registered Lloyd's voice saying, "Oops," from the hole that the gargantuan rock had fallen through. A shiver ran though Link's body as he thought about how close he'd come to being crushed beneath the rock.

Link walked onto the bumpy rock and inspected it. He noticed sword markings and chippings all over it, as if someone had used it as a target for practice. Then he looked up, into the hole it had fallen from. He could almost see a light far above him. It was probably a way out, but it was too steep to climb without someone above dropping a long rope.

"HEY!" Link shouted. When no one answered, Link shouted again. "HEY! CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?" His voice echoed through out the tunnels until they faded into the dark silence. Link could hear his blood pumping through his ears in the dead silence as he waited for a reply.

"Link?" Link smiled excitedly. They'd heard him. And it sounded like Colette speaking.

"Hey! I'm down here!" he shouted back up.

"Where did you go? How did you get down there?"

"I'm not sure. I touched the wall back at the entrance. It slid away to reveal a cavern. I walked in and fell down here. I've been trying to find a way out ever since."

"Hey, is that Link?" That was Lloyd. "How'd he get down there?"

"He said he walked into a small cave near the entrance and fell down," Colette responded.

"Hey, Link?" Lloyd shouted a few seconds later. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I think so." Link looked down for a second and then shouted, "But you almost crushed me with that rock."

"I told you to be careful, Lloyd!" That was Genis accompanied by what sounded like a thump.

"Sorry, Link." Link shook his head, grinning.

"Do you guys know of a way out of here?" Link asked.

For a tense second there was silence. And then came the response. "No…"

Link sighed, nearly letting himself fall into depression. Then Kratos spoke up. "We're going to lower a rope down to you." Flooded with relief, Link sank to the ground, suddenly exhausted from the whole ordeal. _I'm saved._

The end of a rope appeared from above. Link grabbed it and gave it a tug. Then he grabbed the rope as tightly as he could and put his foot though the loop at the bottom. Instead of going up, however, the rope started falling down.

"I'm not done playing," said the bodiless voice from before. Link's expression grew grim and he looked at the rope lying in his hands. The rest of the twined string was piling up around him. Link dropped the rope and moved to the end of the large rock filling the pit. He hopped to the other side and looked behind him with his lantern held high.

A constant noise filled the air. It grew louder kept getting louder and louder. And then two screaming bodies fell through the hole and onto the pile of rope. Link ran over to see who it was and found Genis and Lloyd hacking and coughing.

"Lloyd! Genis! What happened?"

Genis coughed wetly and the cleared his throat. But when he tried to speak, the only thing that came out were gasps. Lloyd was concentrating on breathing.

"Wh… Why did you pull us down," Lloyd finally managed to ask, still slightly choked up.

"I didn't," Link replied innocently. "I put my foot into the loop on the bottom, and grabbed onto the rope. When it started falling down on top of me, I though you guys had let go of it for one reason or another so I was going to move on."

"Then who-"

"Hehehe, now there's more people to play with. We're going to have lots of fun now!" The strange voice made Lloyd and Genis nervously look about, while Link just clenched his fist in frustration.

"I don't know who that is, but she's been haunting me since I got here." Genis turned slowly to face Link. His eyes were wide in fear and he was shaking.

"Ha… Haunted? This place is haunted?" Link shrugged. Genis shuddered some more and hugged his knees.

"Hey, you guys okay?"

"Yeah, Colette," Lloyd shouted back up the tunnel. "Wait there, we're going to see if we can find another way out."

"Don't die, Lloyd." Lloyd gave a confused glance up at the mercenary that he knew was standing up there.

"What's he expect me to do?" Lloyd asked under his breath. "Well," he said, "let's get going." Lloyd pulled Genis up and the two of them climbed out of the pile of rope to stand next to Link. "Lead the way Link."

Link turned and continued down the tunnel. The group came to another door some time later. Lloyd was constantly tapping the ends of his sword hilts, nervously glancing at the dancing shadows cast by Link's lantern. The door though, provided an excuse to stop annoying his companions.

"What's a door doing down here?" Lloyd asked.

"What's a maze doing down here?" Genis responded.

"Shh," Link reached out and turned the handle of the door. The old metal gears in the handle mechanism squealed as they went to work once more. The door groaned open on its ancient hinges, spraying thousands of years of dust everywhere.

The inside of the room was already lit, which raised all three of the boy's suspicions. _If this was such an old room with a door that hasn't been opened since forever, why is there a fire still lit in here?_ Link slowly edged into the room, keeping his lantern held high. The light in the room was coming from a single torch at the opposite end of the room.

As soon as all three boys were inside of the room, the door behind them slammed shut. The slam was so powerful that pieces of the ceiling rained down upon the boy's heads. Genis ran back to the door and tried to open it.

"It's no use," he said, "it won't even budge. It's like the handle is rusted shut." Genis gave up on the door and backed away. The three boys put their backs together and kept an eye on the whole room.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," said Lloyd, a tingling sensation going up his spine. Genis nodded in agreement and readied his Kendama. Lloyd unsheathed his swords along side Link.

"Hehe, now it's time to play! Let's play!"

A low rumbled filled the silence of the room like a far off freight train that was getting closer. Small pebbles on the floor began to dance as the rumbling came closer. The boys nervously moved closer together, preparing for whatever it was that might be coming. Suddenly, the single torch went out. Link's lantern was then the only thing lit in the room. That is until it was blown out as well.

"Uh… Guys, if all the lights went out, why can I still see in front of me?" Genis slowly looked around. All of them did and found that they could indeed see still. There was still light in the room even though all the fire had gone out. Then at once, all three boys looked up.

Lloyd gasped. "What in the world is that?!"

* * *

Ahh, cliffhanger. 

**Link**: WHAT! How could you end it there?!

Cause I want to make an atmosphere of suspence, and I wanted to post this chapter sooner than later.

**Link**: But I could have waited until it was all complete! Why? WHY?!

(Sigh) Please review and as always thanks for reading!


	5. Martel Temple Dungeon Part Two

Okay, I intended for this chapter to be part of the last one, but I split it into two pieces. And now for the thanks. **_Jenova Remnant AKA Fishie_, _freakyanimegal456_, _WhiteFoxDemon_, _Nasusi_, _link 2701_, _Zoray Zorial_, _ShadowHunterLoki_, _frostneko_**, **_Tobiasa… _**Thank you all, for reviewing!

**Link**: "Hurry up already!"

My, aren't you rude. …Well, say the disclaimer if you're so impatient.

**Link**: "I.K.A. Valian doesn't own anything but me and the plot changes. Now go!"

Wow that was fast, did you plan that ahead of time?

**Link**: "… just go!"

Okay, okay, here' ya go.

* * *

Colette got down onto her knees. Her blond hair cascaded past her shoulders as she leaned over the side of the platform and peered into the dark abyss below. "I wonder what they're doing down there…"

* * *

"Look out, it's falling down!" Lloyd grabbed Link and Genis and shoved them out of the way. Then he leaped backwards just in time.

* * *

Kratos, standing off to one side, sighed. He glanced half bored out of his mind at the blond chosen peering over the edge of the platform. "Perhaps they are getting into trouble as we speak, or getting lost."

"They better not be," Colette interrupted. "Not without me anyway."

* * *

There was a loud splotch sound as the large sack of loosely gathered glowing blue goop slammed into the ground. Slime exploded across the whole room, completely coating the side of the boys that faced the blob. For a few seconds nothing happened, no one and nothing moved.

Finally, Genis wiped some of the slowly dripping slime from his face. "Disgusting!" The small magician started wiping off as much of the goop he could get at.

"Wow," was all Lloyd could manage. He still stared at the giant blob pulsing in the middle of the room. He could see right through it, right through the fluids inside of its skin.

"Hiyaaaaa!" Link jumped up, covered in glowing blue slime himself, and sliced into the creature's side. It cried out with a shrill shriek and started oozing quickly across the room away from the boys.

"Why'd you do that?" Genis asked, wiping slim off of his arms.

"This slim is eating through our clothes. It will probably eat through us too if we don't defeat that thing fast!"

Lloyd glanced down at his clothes and saw several spots slowly opening underneath the blue slime. The stuff really was eating through their clothes. The boys got busy pulling slime off as fast as they could.

Meanwhile, the blob had slunk its way across the room to the wall. It reached out with a portion of its mass and attached a gooey extension onto the wall's surface. Satisfied that its bulk would be supported, the blob detached itself from the floor and started oozing up the wall.

* * *

Colette huffed in frustration, crossing her arms and snarling to herself. "I bet their having a ton of fun down there!" Kratos arched an eyebrow. Then he went back to leaning against the stairs with his eyes closed.

* * *

"Ahhh! Run away! It's going to drop again!" The three boys ran as fast as they could. They were half way across the room when the pulsating thing started its descent.

Genis was fortunate enough to notice this. He grabbed onto Lloyd just as the blob slammed into the floor and spun. The effect of this was that Lloyd became Genis' human shield and took most of the attack.

Lloyd coughed and spit some of the slim out. "Thanks Genis," he said, wiping the slime from his face.

"No problem," Genis replied.

Link grabbed onto Genis and Lloyd and dragged them forward. "Come on, we don't have much time before it starts moving back up the wall!"

"Then why are we going toward it?!" cried Lloyd. The boys came to a stop in front of the glowing blob and Link unsheathed his swords.

"I figure that if we defeat it that all this goo will go with it," explained Link. Then he launched into a flurry of slices and jabs.

"Right," affirmed Lloyd. He unsheathed his own swords and threw himself into the attack. Genis ran back a few steps and started charging up a spell.

Once the time came, he shouted, "Get down guys," Link and Lloyd jumped backwards and Genis shouted, "Fireball!"

Instead of three balls of small stature flying from the aura that Genis had conjured around his kendama, three giant fireballs erupted. They screamed through the air with an audible roar. The blob imploded upon impact with the three balls of enormous fire Mana. Slime was sent everywhere, coating everything and everyone in the room.

* * *

"I bet they're getting all dirty from crawling through the dust and exploring different rooms." Colette was now pacing back and forth. She stopped to stare at the edge of the platform, a contemplative look etched into her face.

"Chosen, do not even consider it."

Colette turned toward the purple clad mercenary and pouted. "But they're having so much fun down there!"

"I said, NO!" Kratos leaned back against the stairs, patiently waiting. Colette went back to pouting.

* * *

"That was amazing, Genis!" Lloyd shouted.

"Yeah," agreed Link. "I've never you use a spell that powerful before."

Genis kept staring at the smoking remains of the blob. His eyes were wide open in astonishment and he kept taking shuddering breaths through the slime that had covered him.

"Hey, Genis, are you okay?" Lloyd walked up to his friend and waved a hand in front of his face. Finally, Genis snapped out of it and started hacking and coughing.

"Whoa, there you are." Lloyd started patting the elf's back roughly. "Great job Genis!"

"Lloyd," choked Genis, "That wasn't me. I didn't use any Mana for that spell. It was this goo. It filled my spell with so much Mana that… that I couldn't even control where it went."

"Still," said Lloyd, "good job." He helped Genis up and then looked behind him. Link was bent over the remains of the blob, his hands buried deep in the stuff. "Link, what are you doing?"

"I got it!" he said triumphantly, pulling back with all his strength. With a deep sucking noise, a large chest dislodged from the slimy remains of the blob and landed behind Link. He scrambled around and kneeled down in front of it.

"Hey, what did you find," Lloyd asked as he and Genis came up behind the Hylian.

"I found a treasure chest!" Link jammed his sword into the gap between the lid and the bottom of the chest and pushed downward. After a certain amount of effort the lid popped open, making a small poof sound, and the item within was revealed in all of its glory.

"What is that?" asked Genis.

"It's a boomerang," said Link, clearly awed by the weapon as he picked it out of the chest and held it before him. It was mostly composed of silver like metal and it glowed white in contrast to the goo around them.

"What's it do?" asked Lloyd.

Link grinned. "Just watch." He stood up and walked to the center of the room. He reared his arm back and threw the boomerang at the crystal embedded in the wall above the door.

The bent piece of metal flew end over end through the air. It struck the crystal dead on, creating a shower of orange sparks. Then, its job done, the weapon flew back to Link's outstretched hand. He caught the weapon with practiced east.

Inside of Link's hand, the boomerang came into contact with the goo. The weapon's glow grew bright and Link dropped it with a cry. While Link was cradling his hand like it had been burned, the boomerang started absorbing all the glowing blue slime in the entire room.

Like a vacuum hose stuck into a fish tank, the blue goo was absorbed into the boomerang. Finally; the only thing giving off anymore light was the boomerang itself. Then the torch near the door spontaneously lit itself and the metal door swung back open.

"What in the world just happened?" asked Genis. He turned around in a circle and couldn't find any more of the nasty slime in the room. "What did that thing do to absorb all the slime? And why did the door just open and the torch light itself?"

Link bent down and lightly touched the boomerang, quickly pulling his hand back incase it burned him again. But the metal was cool to the touch now and the glow was no longer as bright.

Lloyd walked to the door and looked out into the darkened tunnel. Genis came up behind him and peered under his arm. Link stood up, stuffing the boomerang into his belt and pulled his lantern out.

"See, wasn't that fun?" The three boys stopped dead in their tracks and did a quick search for the little girl's voice.

"Who's there," shouted Lloyd. Link quickly relit his lantern and held it as high above his head as he could.

"Come on, let's get back and see if any of the other tunnels lead to an exit." Link lead the way forward into the tunnel. When they came to the spot where the Golem block had nearly crushed Link, they stopped and looked up, but the hole that the rock and two boys had fallen through was gone, almost as if it was never there.

"Where'd the hole go?" Lloyd pondered aloud.

"I don't know, but I'm beginning to expect the weirdest things in this place," said Genis. Lloyd nodded and the two followed Link as he continued on past the Golem.

The three boys emerged into the room with the huge door. It was to a greater degree, better lit than the rest of the place had been. Link extinguished his lantern and clipped it to his belt.

"So," said Lloyd, idly rubbing the hilts of his swords, "Now what? We can't go back because there isn't any way out and all the exits here are blocked by chains or iron bars."

"Actually, Lloyd, not everything has been accomplished in this room." Genis pointed at the ceiling and Lloyd obediently looked up.

Link did as well and caught onto Genis' idea. Eh pulled his new boomerang out of his belt and aimed at the crystals on the ceiling. With a small cry, he let the angled weapon fly.

The boomerang flew through the air and whacked the crystal in the center of the domed ceiling. The crystal changed from a dull black color to a golden yellow shortly after the impact.

Link caught the boomerang and slipped it back into his belt. The boys waited for something to happen, but nothing happened except for a few bugs singing their songs. Then there was a loud clinking of metal and of gears turning. Then nothing.

"That didn't work out as hoped," said Genis. Lloyd turned and gave the wall a frustrated kick. He was surprised when the brick popped out and the entire section of wall fell down into a pile of dust.

"Oops." Lloyd rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as Link and Genis stared at the wall.

"Lloyd," shouted Genis, "be careful. You could have made the entire place collapse."

"Sheesh, sorry." Link ignored the two and looked into the new opening. It was a small room. And in the corner, Link saw a small chest. He jumped into the room and popped the chest open with a jab from his toes.

He reached in with a smile and pulled out another small silver key, this one round. Link jumped over the pile of dust that the wall had created and ran past the other two the last chained door.

The key slid in just like the last time. When the chains fell off and the door swung open invitingly, Link turned and gave the others a wave.

* * *

"Okay, so this block goes here and this will complete the path way to the Sorcerer's Ring?"

"Correct, Chosen." Kratos stood back as Colette kicked the last block into place. Both of them ran up the stairs on the other side of the newly formed bridge. At the top of the stairs, they found the treasure of their quest into the bowels of the Martel temple, the Sorcerer's Ring.

Colette put the ring onto her right pointer finger. Then she turned away from Kratos and punched her hand forward. A fireball shot out from the ring on her hand and sped off into the distance.

"…That was… interesting."

"Chosen, I suggest heading back. The others may have found a way out by now."

Colette nodded. "Alright, let's go."

* * *

"Well, that was easy." Lloyd appeared from the doorway, tossing a large metal key up and down. "We barely even hit them and they died."

"Yeah," agreed Genis with a nod. He twisted his kendama in his hand. "I hit those red blobs once with my kendama and it just deflated and died."

"Well," said Link as he appeared, "I'll just take that as a Goddess-send and move on. Maybe there's an exit behind door number three." Link nodded at Lloyd. He nodded back and moved toward the large lock holding an even large door closed. He reached out and inserted the Big Key into the large lock.

The key suddenly started turning itself. With a loud crack, the old rusted lock dropped to the floor. The chains fell as well and the doors split down the center and the two panels opened outward with a gust of very stale air.

The three boys looked at each other nervously. Link was the first one to step forward into the tunnel. Lloyd followed behind him and Genis picked up the rear. Once they were all through the door, it shut behind them with a loud bang.

They entered another room filled with a light mist. The ground was very soft beneath their feet, almost like it was covered with moss. There was a rustling leafy sound echoing throughout the chamber as they came to a stop and looked around.

Link raised his lantern above his head to get a better view of the area when the flame blew out. Link frantically tried to light it again as the source of the rustling leafy sound somehow got closer without being directly near them.

A tapping on his shoulder brought his attention to Lloyd's hand point upwards. Link looked up and squinted. There on the ceiling was a large yellow eye staring back down at them.

Suddenly, the entire chamber exploded with light. The three shielded their eyes and when they could see again, they were standing in a grand ball room, with gold furnishings and velvet flooring. The entire set up was very elaborate. But what held their attention was the small girl staring at them a few feet away from them.

"Hehe," she giggled. "It's been fun playing. But you shouldn't be here. Please leave."

"But we can't get out back there," explained Genis.

"The only way out is past those doors," said the little girl, pointing behind her while keeping her wary eyes on the three boys. "But you aren't allowed in there. Please go back… if you value your lives."

"I'm sorry," Lloyd said as gently as he could, "But if that's the only way out, then that's the way we have to go!"

"If that's the way you're going to be… then I'm going to eat you. I'm so happy you're here to play with me." The little girl raised her hands into the air and the room melted before their eyes back into the dark. The little girl's image shifted as well. Her arms grew longer, to the point that they were unusable as arms. Her legs did the same. Two pairs of arms sprouted out of her mid section and grew to the same lengths. Her head pulled back into her body as her skin darkened to the point that it looked like an over ripe scab.

When the spider was completely formed, it let loose and earth shaking roar. The three boys stared dumbfounded as the single eyed spider that was on the ceiling when they entered the chamber was now charging at the.

Link was the first one to act. He unsheathed his swords and swung as fast as he could, catching the oncoming spider in the leg as it rushed at them. His other sword flew toward the creature's eye, but a large, armored eyelid slid over the soft tissue beneath just as his sword came down.

The spider backed up and turned around, crawling quickly away. Link turned to Lloyd and Genis who were still gawking at the Noishe sized spider crawling away from them.

"Guys, we need to stun it. Its eye is its weakness, but it has some kind of shield that it can put up whenever it sees something coming." Link grabbed both Genis' and Lloyd's shoulders and focused their attention on him. "Come on guys," he shouted, "think!"

"Uhh… Well, why don't you use that boomerang to stun it and then me and Genis will attack it." Link and Genis nodded at Lloyd, acknowledging his plan.

The spider was now crawling across the ceiling. It was easy to see where it was because of its bright yellow eye. Lloyd and Genis ran toward where it would land when Link hit it with the boomerang and came to a stop directly beneath it.

Link readied the boomerang and was about to throw it when the spider started making grunting noises and several thing started dropping onto Lloyd and Genis. By time Link managed to let loose the boomerang, the spider had moved and it span off into the distance, returning a short time later.

"Crap, what are these things?!" shouted Lloyd. He was swiping at a multitude of miniature spider larva that had hatched from the objects that the spider had dropped.

"Get them off me!" shouted Genis. He was swiping at them, trying to dislodge them as they started chewing on his hair, and he was having no luck at all.

"Hang on," Link shouted. He ran to help the other, but was knocked to the over when the mama spider appeared and rammed into his side. He flew into the wall with a cry.

"Link!" Lloyd shouted. "Okay, that's it spider. You've officially crossed the line! Demon Fang!" Lloyd killed off the spider larva attacking him and then with two swipes killed the ones attacking his best friend. "Genis, use your strongest spell on the big spider while I distract it."

"Got it!" The little mage started casting, the ball on his kendama floating all over the place as the Mana built up around it. Lloyd, meanwhile, ran full tilt toward the spider and started slashing at the creature's armored body.

Though none of Lloyd's hits were having any effect on the armored carapace of the creature, it did pull its attention away from Link struggling to stand up against the wall. By the time the spider turned around, three fireballs were screaming through the air toward the spider and slammed into its face.

The creature let out a horrible screech as it flailed around. Lloyd tried to move in and slash a few times at its eye, but he was smacked away as the spider flailed about wildly.

By now, Link was standing and circling the spider, searching for an opening. Shortly enough, the spider got its sense back together and started crawling away. It crawled up a wall and onto the ceiling directly over the boys.

Genis was helping Lloyd up when Link shouted and threw the boomerang. It sailed through the air and slammed into the spider's head. The creature fell off the ceiling and slammed into the ground with a grunt.

Link moved in and started slashing at the spider's eye as best he could. Lloyd soon joined Link and the two of them nearly defeated the spider outright with their stabbing and slashing.

But the final nail in the coffin was Genis' to hammer in. "Get back guys!" Link and Lloyd both immediately backed off.

No sooner had they cleared the creature had it come to its sense. With a shake of its head, the spider charged straight for Link and Lloyd.

"Wind Blade!" A storm of wind engulfed the spider, lifting it off the ground. It fought the air madly in an attempt to free itself, but died instantly when the air holding it up became deadly, razor sharp blades formed out of compressed air.

No sooner had the corpse of the spider hit the ground when it began disintegrating. The image of the little girl appeared above it. She was crying.

"You guys all play dirty. You meanies! You deserve the curse of this place! Ahhhh….." The little girl's scream trialed off as she disappeared into nothingness. The door at the other end of the room opened up and the light on the other side poured in.

All three of the boys let out a collective sigh of relieve. "That was too easy," said Genis. He attached his kendama to his belt and stretched his arms.

"Let's just see what she was hiding in there," said Link, pointing toward the open doors at the end of the room. The three of them started walking leisurely toward the door, though Link stopped to pick up a glowing red rock that disappeared in his hand.

On the other side of the door, they came face to face with a large circular room. In the floor were etched runes that looked a lot like the writing on the marble tablet in the first room Link had come to.

"Genis, do you think this is angelic?" asked Lloyd.

"No, I've never seen anything like this before."

"It's ancient Hylian," said Link in a low tone. He wasn't looking at the floor though when the other two turned to him. They followed his line of sight and faced the center of the room. "What I want to know is… what is that?!"

Floating above a pedestal was a small black triangle. Below it, on the circular stone pedestal was written a single word over and over in a language different from the ancient Hylian on the floor.

Link walked forward, approaching the floating black triangle slowly. Lloyd and Genis followed, though wary of anything that would jump out of nowhere. Stranger things had happened in this place.

Link reached out and touched the black triangle with his left hand. A bright golden light began emitting from the black triangle and the back of Link's hand. Then the runes on the floor lit up, a red light emitting in a circle around the boys.

The runes began spinning one way, and then the next ring inward spun the opposite way, until the words carved on the pedestal were spinning. After several minutes of this, one by one, from the center, the rings of runes went dark. Then a deep and oppressive presence filled the room.

"Hehehehehehehe… I'm free! I'm finally free! I'm free to supple life from the land once more! And you fools are the one's who set me free!" A dark cloud formed above the three boys, above the pedestal. Its only distinguishing feature was a pair of white eyes in the middle; eyes that radiated malice. "By touching the Proto-Triforce of Humanitas, you broke the seal on my spirit. Now I will wreak havoc upon this world once more. So long, fools!"

The cloud of darkness look up and was sucked through the cracks in the ceiling. Lloyd and Genis looked at each other and then looked at Link. Link was holding the black triangle in his hand, staring at it like he was seeing something that he'd never thought he'd ever see.

The boys all covered their eyes as the runes lit up once more, blindingly bright.

* * *

"Uhh, Kratos, what's that?" Colette pointed toward the glowing runes on the floor of the room. They were circling around and around, faster and faster. Then, slowly, something started to form. Kratos pulled his sword and held it at the ready. Colette did the same with her knifes.

Both put away their weapons when they saw Lloyd, Genis, and Link take shape. When they were fully there, the runes disappeared, leaving the boys standing there with confused looks on their faces.

"Lloyd, Genis!" Colette ran forward and dive bomb hugged her two friends. They fell to the ground laughing. Link, was still staring at the black triangle in his hands.

"What is it that you hold, boy?" Kratos wasn't asking in a menacing way, though his tone did snap Link out of the spell he was under. He looked up at the mercenary and tried to form a word, but nothing came out.

Finally, Link shouted, "Before-Triforce!" Then he fainted.

* * *

Link

Health: H H H H

Magic: (Deactivated except for lighting the Lantern)

Weapons: Twin Sabers, Boomerang

Items: Lantern

* * *

**Link**: "What's "Before-Triforce!" mean?"

It's a riddle, big part of the story, you'll learn more later.

**Link**: "Oh really. That's good. And thank the goddesses that we defeated that nasty Blob and the giant spider."

Uh… right, it was a giant spider. Yeah, a lot of you thought that first monster was the giant's spider… surprise! But there was a spider in there for your enjoyment. So enjoy.

**Link**: "How can anyone enjoy a giant spider that wants to eat them?!"

It doesn't want to eat them, just you.

**Link**: "Oh…"

Okay then. Please review! And as always, thanks for reading!


	6. From Bad to Worse

Holy cow! It's been over a month.

**Link**: "You need to stop slacking off, dude."

What are you complaining about, you weren't doing anything the whole time either. I at least updated my other stories, if only just a bit slower than normal.

**Link**: "Sure. Well, now what?"

Now, I thank the reviewers. _**Jenova**__**Remnant**__**AKA**__**Fishie**_,_**ShadowHunterLoki**_, _**WhiteFoxDemon**_,_**freakyanimegal456**_, _**Ruby Tyra**_,_**Canada Cowboy**_, _**frostneko**_, and _**Amekoryuu**_… thank you!

**Link**: (_Is bowing at reviewer's feet and sobbing…_) "Thanks you for keeping me alive!"

Okay, now you do the disclaimer and then we go onto the story.

**Link**: "Okay! I.K.A. Valian doesn't own anything Zelda or Tales of Symphonia related, except of course, the games. But he does own me, since I'm a brand new Link, and he owns the changes to the plot line. There."

Okay, Link, we're taking you to Kratos' School for the Socially Inept. They're going to teach you how to talk less and be anti-social, just like Kratos!

**Link**: "But I don't talk too much…"

Too bad, on with the story!

* * *

Zelda was sitting, staring out of the front, wooden framed window in the Brunel house, when she heard the first screams. People suddenly started running wildly about with panic stricken faces. Smoke started rising into the air from someplace on the other side of the village, causing the princess to conclude that a fire had broken out in the village.

She stood up and went to the door. Just as she turned the handle, someone on the outside pushed the door open and in the process, knocked Zelda onto the floor. She looked up and let out a slightly relieved, slightly concerned sigh when she saw Kratos walk into the house with Link passed out in his arms.

Lloyd, Colette, and Genis rushed into the building behind Kratos and slammed the door shut. Colette immediately ran up the stairs while Lloyd and Genis went to the two windows and looked out of them. Zelda stood up and went to the table, where Kratos had laid Link down.

"What happened to him?" she asked.

"I'm not sure why he passed out," said Kratos. He reached out and felt Link's pulse on his neck. "He simply said, "Before-Triforce" and passed out."

"Before… Triforce? It…" Zelda was interrupted when Phaidra and Frank appeared from upstairs, with Colette right behind them. She dumped a large bag onto the floor, several articles of clothing spilling out. Frank went to the cabinet and started pulling dishes and cooking ware out of them and stuffing them into a large sack. Phaidra did much the same with the food, stuffing breads and cheese into sacks, along with wines and flasks of water. "What is happening outside?" asked Zelda.

"It's the Desian's," said Genis. "They attacked us at the Temple just after Colette received the Oracle."

"Yeah, and they chased us all the way here," said Lloyd. "When we got here, Professor Raine said she'd go back to her house and pack up stuff, and then meet us here. After that, we're all going to go to my house to get my dad."

"Who is this Professor Raine?"

"She's my sister," explained Genis, quickly ducking beneath the window and then peeking over the edge.

"And our teacher," added Colette as she helped Frank with the valuables. Just then the door opened and Raine walked in with her travel coat on, a large backpack on behind her, and her healing staff.

"I got what I could," she said, walking into the room and setting everything on the table next to Link. "Has he shown any signs of recovery since the temple?" she asked Kratos. He shook his head. "Damn," she murmured to herself. "He needs to wake up soon; we can't carry him all over the place." Raine reached out to feel Link's forehead, then froze. Her eyes shifted upward from Link, on the table, to Zelda standing on the other side of the table.

For several tense seconds, nothing happened, aside from the ruckus outside and the frantic packing of Colette and her family. Finally, Raine asked, "Who are you?"

"That's Link's friend," said Lloyd, glancing over his shoulder. "He said that she's from Hyrule too."

"You know of Hyrule?" asked Zelda. Kratos arched an eyebrow at both Raine and Zelda. At Raine because she was giving the other Hylian the evil eye. At Zelda because she was looking at Lloyd hopefully. "Tell me, how do you know of Hyrule?"

"Only what Link told us," said Raine carefully. "Perhaps, you could tell us more?"

"That will have to wait," Kratos interrupted. He unsheathed his sword and moved close to the door. "We have to leave. Now!"

Just as he said that, the door burst open and four Desians rushed in, their whips cracking like crazy all over the place. The zipping weapons smashed unpacked dishes, cut up carpets and draperies alike. They would have gone after the people in the room, had Kratos not taken all four on at the same time. In less than five strokes, Kratos had not only stopped them, but had killed them all. They were dead before their bodies hit the floor.

"Come on," he said. He ran out the door and it was only moments before more sound of battle could be heard.

Genis and Lloyd ran over to Link and pulled him up and off the table. Between the two of them, they managed to carry him out of the house. Colette and her family went next, leaving Raine alone with Zelda.

"I apologize," said Zelda. "I should have introduced myself earlier."

"Now is hardly the time," said Raine as she pulled her stuffed sack of stuff back onto her back and picked up her staff. "Come, you can explain after we're safe from the Desians."

Both the princess and the healer left the house and regroup with the others outside. Around them lay the bodies of quite a few Desians, contorted in varying positions that would have been impossible had they not been dead.

Without saying a word, Kratos motioned for the group to follow and fell into the lead position. Any Desians that got between the group and the village exit was quickly taken care of at the end of Kratos' sword. Genis and Lloyd took care of the stragglers as best they could, but were greatly hampered by Link. Sometimes Genis would take Link and sometimes, Lloyd.

An atmosphere of fear surrounded the group as they made their way through the village. The screams were coming less and less, and the amount of smoke was becoming greater. It wasn't long before the group reached the main entrance to the village, and there it was that they came to a stop. In the center of the clearing, directly in front of the entrance was a tall man with hair blonder and finer than Colette's. He wore tight white clothing and had an air of arrogant superiority about him.

"Lord Yggdrasill?" said Kratos. He fell to one knee in front of the man, an action to which the rest of the group eyed him suspiciously.

"Kratos," said Yggdrasill. "Things have changed. Bring the Chosen to me."

"Yes, Lord Yggdrasill." Kratos stood up and turned around. Before anyone could do anything, he walked over to Colette, knocked her out, and brought her over to the man in white.

"Kratos, what are you doing?!" shouted Lloyd. He let go of Link, practically throwing Genis onto the ground. But before Lloyd could even pull his swords from their sheaths, Yggdrasill pulled a glowing purple blade literally out of thin air and then stabbed Kratos with it in the gut.

Kratos fell to the ground clutching the bloody hole in his midsection with surprise written all over his face. "But… Mithos… why?"

The one Kratos had called Yggdrasill picked Colette's unconscious body up and slung her over his shoulder. Then he aimed his glowing sword at Lloyd, who by now was getting ready to attack this strange and powerful newcomer.

"Mithos Yggdrasill is no longer in control," said Yggdrasill. "Now I, Lord Agahnim am in control. And I despise this world. I think I'll take my armies and move to a new one… And I think I'll take the fabled land of Hyrule as my new throne." The newly renamed person named Lord Agahnim held out the glowing purple sword in front of him said loudly and commandingly, "Eternal Sword, I command thee. Take up Cruxis, the Desians, and all loyal followers, the Great Seed and the comet Derris Kharlan floating above the heavens. Move them to the fabled land of Hyrule. Eternal Sword, do as I, your master, commands!"

The sword let out a pulse of energy so strong that it knocked the group off their feet. In the blink of an eye, before anyone knew what was happening, Colette, and the strange man who was holding her, disappeared.

* * *

- - - Several hours later - - -

The ground was shaking violently. The sky was dark, even though Link could see the sun glaring down from directly above him. It was as if night had come and someone forgot to tell the sun that it wasn't supposed to be there right now. The shaking slowed to a stop after a few moments, leaving the land still and eerily silent when it went.

"Hey, Link's finally awake." Link looked toward the source of the voice and saw Lloyd and Genis. Behind them he could see the princess, Colette's father and grandmother, Professor Raine and on the ground, next to a camp fire, was a bandaged up Kratos.

"Are you okay?" asked Lloyd. Link nodded and pushed himself up.

"What happened?" Link asked. He walked forward a little bit, looking around at the darkened plain they were in the middle of. "What's wrong with Kratos?" he asked, coming to a stop just next to him. Zelda looked up from next to Raine and motioned off to the side. Once Raine nodded to her, both Zelda and Link walked a short distance from the group.

"So many things have happened since you went into the temple," said the Princess, warily looking about their surroundings. "That girl, Colette, has been kidnapped. Something called the Great Seed and Derris Kharlan have been taken from this planet. Ever since then, the sky has been dark all the time and the ground shakes have been coming more and more frequently. The villagers were killed and those that survived ran off. Kratos was stabbed by the man who kidnapped Colette and… They're suspicious but I've yet to tell them who I am."

Link nodded. "Okay then, what can we do?"

Zelda looked back at the group sadly. "Right now, there's nothing that we can do but survive."

"Alright," said Link with a brave nod. Not a trace of fear was present in his eyes, something the princess caught and frowned at again. "Then until we're safe, I'll protect you princess."

Zelda studied Link for a moment longer, but then nodded appreciatively. "Okay Link. For right now, let us help the others. They've been so helpful to us already. It's only proper that we do all we can to help them." Link nodded and the two of them made their way back to the others.

"Lloyd!"

Lloyd turned around in a circle, searching for the source of the voice. "Dad?" he shouted back.

"Lloyd, I'm ov'r here. Git yerself ov'r here and 'elp me carry this stuff."

"Coming, Dad," Lloyd shouted as he ran off into the darkness. Moments later, a short, stout and sturdy dwarf with a brown beard and a brown overcoat appeared. Behind him Lloyd was noisily grunting as he heaved and huffed pulling the stuffed to the brim bag of tools and items along the ground

"Hello, Dirk," greeted Genis. Everyone got up and moved toward the dwarf as Lloyd heaved the heavy bag the rest of the way with Genis' help.

"Dirk, thank you for coming so quickly," said Frank.

"T'was nothing at all," he said amiably. "When Noishe appeared with that note, I started packing things up immediately and started out just as the sky darkened."

"Still, we most appreciate it," said Phaidra.

One long, and loud groan, brought everyone's attention to Kratos. He brought his hand to his forehead and groaned again. After blinking a few times, he sat up and looked around, quickly getting his bearings. Raine quickly pushed him back down.

"You shouldn't be moving," she said.

Kratos pushed her hand away and stood up. "I'm fine." He pulled the bloody bandage off of his midsection and revealed a completely healed tummy. Raine was at a loss for words, but Kratos ignored her and quickly made an assessment of what they had and who was there. "I suppose that event's could have gone better, but-"

Ker-shing

Kratos glanced down at the wooden blade at his throat. He let his eyes follow the wooden weapons back to the person holding it, in this case, Lloyd.

"Boy, you'd best put that toy away, before you get yourself hurt." Lloyd's eye's hardened.

"You gave Colette to them," he said accusingly. Several seconds later, a second pair of blades were at Kratos' throat, wielded by Link. Kratos glared at the young, green clad boy and then back at Lloyd. His focus wandered from person to person, and the accusing looks they were giving him.

"I leave you alone for a hundred years and look at the situation you get yourself into." Kratos closed his eyes and sighed in exasperation. The group turned and looked at a blue pony tailed half-elf approaching the group.

"What would I ever do without you, Yuan?" asked Kratos sarcastically.

* * *

Wow, who would have thought that would have happened. More to be explained in the next chapter. Including that black Triforce thing, but for now, revel in your confusion...

**Link**: "I don't think they like being confused."

Oh, well, sorry then, but you'll have to wait till I update again.

**Link**: "Please reveiw, and as always, thanks for reading!"


	7. Picking up the Pieces

Now to thank the reviewers! Thanks_**Jenova Remnant AKA Fishie**_, _**Canada Cowboy**_, _**mandrakefunnyjuice**_,_**WhiteFoxDemon**_, _**freakyanimegal456**_,_**Amekoryuu**_, and _**Sakura the cherry alchemist**_ for reviewing the last chapter. Now, back to work…

**Link**: "What's that?"

What?

**Link**: "That… What is that you're holding?"

Oh, this? It's just an application I'm filling out for you.

**Link**: "… An application for what?"

Oh, I thought I told you last time… It's an application for Kratos' School for the Socially Inept.

**Link**: "I don't want to go there! I already told you I don't talk too much! Why are you doing this to me?! What's wrong with this world?!"

Done?

**Link**: "No!"

Good, then you can do the disclaimer.

**Link**: "I.K.A. Valian, my _oh so benevolent_ creator, doesn't own anything Zelda or Tales of Symphonia related, except of course for me, and the plot changes, of which, there are many now. What the heck happened last chapter?"

Read on and find out!

* * *

- - - Hyrule - - -

Roland wearily wheeled his cart full of vegetables through the mud. The sun was high in the sky, shining brightly through the hot and muggy air. The Hyrule Market reeked of the stench of such people as Roland, each one hawking their wares like it would save the buyer's soul. All manner of creatures were doing this; a Goron tossing bombs around like candy before stuffing them into its mouth hungrily; a Hylian showing a customer how his bows are better crafted than the guy next to him is selling; a Zora selling fresh fish that smelled like it was two weeks old.

But all this daily hub-bub could not hide the wide-eyed tension present in everyone gathered. They were waiting for it to happen, for it was inevitable and unavoidable. Ganon was coming. His hordes of monsters had already desecrated Hyrule Castle Town, scattering it's populace to the winds. Runners had come to the Market with the news just days earlier when smoke was seen rising in the distance.

"Ganondorf is coming! Ganondorf is coming!" sang the street urchins of the Market. Roland set his cart down and scowled madly at the children. Several other people were doing the same. They didn't want to be reminded so quickly that their fate was sealed, rather wishing to remain blissfully unaware until the last moments when they'd curse the heavens for letting Ganondorf to exist. "The Pig is gonna get you!" the children sang as they darted off, disappearing down one of the endless amount of side streets.

Roland scowled, thinking about the street urchins, wishing they'd never come up with such a horrid song. He picked his cart back up and pushed it the rest of the way to his own stand of vegetables that his family was renting for the day. His children were behind the stall, handing out food, taking rupee's in exchange, and running off thieves that tried to take their years work for free.

"Father," said his little girl, Maria, "We've sold so much. Please let there be no more." Roland smiled down at his little five year old and put a hand affectionately on her shoulder.

"Only this last bunch," he said consolingly, pointing at the cart stuffed to the brim with vegetables of one variety or another. "When we're done, we can head home to Mother, alright you two?"

"Yes father," the two disheartened children chimed at the same time. He knew they wanted to go play, but he was happy nonetheless that they stayed and were well behaved. They'd grow up to be fine people one day, he was sure. Roland's blood quickly froze on the spot.

Like a plague, the roar accompanied shadow moved to hover over the Market. For several heart stopping seconds, all the denizens in the Market looked up and stared in mute terror at the floating purple hazed covered comet directly above them. Then instincts took over like wildfire everyone gathered screamed and desperately started scrambling to get away.

"Maria, Jeaco!" Roland screamed. His two children were immediately at his side, clutching his hands and pressing themselves into his legs as hard as they could.

"What is that, Father," whimpered Maria, sobbing slightly. "What's that in the sky?"

Roland bent down and hugged two children. With strength he hadn't know he possessed, and with a silent prayer thanking Faror, Din, and Nayru for that strength, he picked both children up and started running toward the Temple of the Goddesses.

The temple was carved into the side of Death Mountain. Over the years, the temple had attracted so many people that the Market eventually was formed to organize everything. One person had affectionately called it managed chaos. If anyone asked, the priests would say that the Goddess Nayru guided the whole affair, but no one ever seemed to care.

"People of Hyrule!" Thundered a voice from above. The panic riddled people below scurried faster in their vain attempt so get away. Gorons trampled all in their path. Zora sliced their way through the crowds with their razor sharp fins. Hylians, for the most part, were trampled to death in great numbers. "Prepare yourself to receive your new God-King Agahnim!" Thundered the voice again. "Angels of Cruxis, attack!"

Hundreds of thousands of white winged angles descended from the comet floating in the lower atmosphere above the Market. They rushed downward like the vengeful angels that they looked like. The people in the market, those that decided not to or just gave up on running, tried to fight back. The angels, however, were stronger and harder to kill than any Goron. It was as if they didn't feel pain. The angels were merciless in their systematic extermination of the population within the Market.

Seeing that they didn't stand a chance against the Angels, a point driven home when a single angle warrior beheaded a Goron in one swipe, the people looked toward the Temple of the Goddesses as their only source of refuge. Many were cut down by an angel's blade on the mad dash to the temple steps. Many more were trampled by the uncontrollable crowd.

"Mwahahahahaa!" cackled the possessed Yggdrasill, watching the chaos unfold below. A bright smile was plastered on his face, like he was watching his favorite spectator sport; his team was winning in leaps and bounds. His smile quickly faded when a sultrily dressed woman appeared behind him.

"Lord Yggdrasill." The blond man turned his head and glared at her for the interruption of his enjoyment. The woman quickly caught on and bowed. "I apologize for interrupting you, Lord Yggdrasill."

"I told you to call me Master, Pronyma!" spat Agahnim.

"Uh… I apologize, Master." Pronyma straightened out, adopting an all business expression. "Where would you like us to set up our base of operations? Derris Kharlan is overburdened from the journey and will not be able to sustain all of our forces for long."

The dark spirit Agahnim thought for several seconds before pointing the Eternal Sword at the Temple of the Goddesses. "Build our base of operations in there. My armies of Exsphere enhanced Desians and Cruxis Crystal enhanced Angels will spread from this point and conquer the entire planet of Hyrule."

"Yes, Lord Ygg-err… Yes, Master." Pronyma teleported away, leaving the possessed Yggdrasill alone to watch the carnage below.

"Mwehehehe…" he clenched his fists giddily. "And when I find that legendary Triforce, I'll become all powerful! Mwaaaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaa!"

Roland heard the cackling of the evil self-proclaimed God-King above but ignored it as he ran full tilt, carrying both children with adrenalin fueled panic. He was almost to the Temple steps when three angels appeared in front of him. He attempted to veer around them, but more angels appeared from above and so, Roland tripped. His kids went flying from his grasp and when he looked up, both were being picked up by an angel.

"No!" shouted Roland. "Bring my children back!" The angel ignored him and took off into the sky, back toward the comet above. He watched his children scream at him to save them. He watched their tear streaked faces disappear. And that was the last thing he ever saw as an angle drove its sword into his cranium, ending his life.

* * *

- - - Sylvarant - - -

"Who is that, Kratos?" asked Lloyd. He suspiciously eyed the one that Kratos had called Yuan. Kratos sighed, but did not answer. Meanwhile, Yuan pulled out a strange device with a glowing red light on one side and held it up to his mouth. He let his eyes wander over the group and then pressed the black button on the side.

"Botta," he said into the device, "activate the teleportation field on my location."

"Yes sir," responded the small black device in Yuan's hand.

Almost instantaneously the air became many times heavier. Everyone there found it almost impossible to breath without putting a lot of extra effort into it. Even Kratos, his emotions locked behind his mask of stone, appeared to be having trouble. Before anyone could choke from lack of air, however, the event was over and the group found itself no longer in the middle of an open field but inside of a brightly lit, sterile room with heaps of technology hundreds of years more advanced than many of them had ever seen before.

"Lord Yuan," Yuan turned, his braided hair swinging back and forth, and faced the speaker. Everyone else looked as well and a wave of shock went through the group. Even Kratos didn't look all that calm. Yuan started talking in hushed tones with the man who'd attacked the Martel Temple earlier that same day.

"What's going on?!" shouted Lloyd. "Where are we and how did we get here?!"

"Lloyd, calm down," soothed Raine.

"Yeah, it's not like getting angry will help us get out of this any faster," added Genis.

"None the less," Raine went on, "His questions are valid. So?" Raine leveled her best glare at Yuan and then Kratos, but neither one was doing anything now, other than staring at each other. This uncaring disregard of the teacher's question created a tense silence between the silver haired half-elf and two men having a staring match.

"ANSWER ME!" Raine shouted. Her outburst didn't even put a dent in the glares Kratos and Yuan were sharing. Botta, and the rest of the Desians present for that matter, had nearly suffered a heart attack

"Kratos," said Yuan, still completely ignoring the fuming woman across the room. "I know that you aren't loyal to Mithos. Obviously, I'm still here so we both fall into that category. So drop the grudge until you see what I have to offer. Come on, I think you'll want to see this." Kratos watched Yuan leave the room and then quickly followed him. This left Botta and the squad of soldiers alone with a vexed half-elf teacher and her scared and confused companions

"If you would all come this way," said Botta, moving briskly toward the door, "We've set up an area for refugees' to get medical treatment, refreshment, and rest if necessary."

"Why would the Desians help anyone?" asked Genis. "I think this is just a trick."

"I assure you that this is no trick," said Botta. "We also would appreciate it if you didn't refer to us as Desians. We are Renegades. So, if you would please come this way…" Several of the soldiers around the room raised their weapons and pointed them at the group.

"I believe that under the circumstances…" Raine said.

"Professor Raine!" shouted Lloyd.

"It's not like we have a choice, Lloyd." Raine turned to look at the heavily armed soldiers scattered about the room. Lloyd looked as well. He clenched his fists. "We're at a disadvantage," Raine concluded.

Lloyd didn't say anymore and the rest of the group didn't raise any objections either. Link however wasn't convinced that these people were on the level. They'd tried to use the Princess as a hostage and kill Colette. For now though, he would see what they had to offer while keeping an eye on them.

Botta led the group down the sterile white halls. With each step his boots made a soft clicking sound which stood in stark contrast to the loud obnoxious slapping of everyone else's footfalls. Finally, after walking a short distance, the group approached a large door with a seam running down the middle.

"Whoa!" shouted Lloyd. "This door is huge!"

Botta smirked and pushed his palm against a glowing blue panel on the wall. The motors within the walls groaned as they came to life, pulling both halves of the metallic door apart surprisingly quickly. Revealed was a room like none of them had ever seen before.

"This place is big enough to fit two Iselias in with room to spare," Genis whispered in amazement. Humans and half-elves worked side by side and Renegade soldiers helped out where they could. An entire community had been set up within a room that was larger and emptier than any they'd ever seen before.

"Normally, this hanger would be full of all manner of craft," explained Botta. "But since the calamity, we've been using every vehicle that we have at our disposal to find out what happened and bring refugees back here for safety. In the mean time, we've used the space that the vehicles used to be in to set up a temporary shelter for the refugees that we find."

"I'm shocked," Raine said, sinking to her knees. "To think, that there's another organization that looks exactly like the Desians. And where did you get all this technology. This building couldn't have been built overnight. This is… Fantastic! Is it hewn into the rock? What kind of rock is it? It looks like granite, but it can't be, it's too smooth. It has to be some other kind of stone!"

Genis' eyes went wide and he edged quickly away from his sister. The group watched this exchange with a guarded amusement. Even several people who didn't know what was going on stopped to watch. Genis' failed attempt to hid his sister's true nature was completed when she turned to Botta and started asking question after question, hounding him without even taking the time to breath unless that was absolutely necessary to keep talking. Botta did the wise thing and did not answer any of her questions.

The Renegade second in command led the group through the small community that was set up within the empty hanger. They passed many people; some customizers, seen here and there, working with blacksmiths and tanners alike. Farmers were helping hand out food. Merchants were organizing the supplies and putting things into general order. Everyone had a job to do and didn't waste any time doing it.

Botta finally came to a stop in front of a large unoccupied tent. The tent looked just like all the other's they'd passed. About six feet tall and made of green cloth, the small box like structure had three rooms connected to a central lounge inside of it. Botta untied the flaps at the front of the tent and held it aside for the others to enter.

"I apologies for putting all of you inside of such a small tent," lamented Botta as they all passed by him on their way inward. "But we are strapped for resou-"

"Lord Botta!" yelled a soldier as she ran up the taller man. She stopped in front of him and weakly saluted as she doubled over in exhaustion. "We just got another report of incoming refugee's. And sir, there's a lot of them."

"Thank you, Lieutenant. You may report back to your post." The Lieutenant saluted again and ran back the way she'd appeared from. Botta sighed and turned back toward the group. "I personally escorted you here because Lord Yuan asked me to. If you've any needs at all, come find me and I'll see what we can do. In the mean time, I have other tasks to attend to, so please settle in as we all try come to grips with what's happened." And with that, botta let the flap of the tent fall and he disappeared, the squad of soldiers along with him.

"What are we doing here?!" Lloyd shouted, finally letting out his pent up frustration. "We need to go out there and find Colette! We need to figure out what the heck happened to Sylvarant! Gah!" Lloyd threw his hands up into the air. "I wish I knew what was going on around here! Nothing is happening the way it should!" Everyone had stopped what they were doing and watched Lloyd ranting. Genis moved next to Lloyd and put a hand on his arm as a gesture of friendship.

"Lloyd, I know how you feel. I want to find Colette too. And I'm just as confused about what's going on as you are. But what can we do about it? We're just two people. We can't figure this all out on our own."

"Lloyd," said Frank. "I know that where ever she is, my daughter is alright." Lloyd nodded. He didn't like to think about it, but there really wasn't anything he could do about it right now. Raine took Genis and claimed one of the side rooms, Frank and Phaidra took another, and Lloyd helped his Dirk move his stuff into the last one, leaving Link alone with Zelda in the lounge area.

"Princess," Link said softly, "What do you think is going on?"

"I don't know," she replied softly. "But what ever is going on, Hyrule is involved somehow."

"It is?" asked Link. He arched his eyebrows in surprise.

"Oh, that's right, you were unconscious. The person who caused all of this chaos in this world mentioned Hyrule before he kidnapped Colette. After that, the mid-day sky became dark as night while the sun yet shone brightly in the sky. The ground shook as if the very core of the world was destroyed. And then the monsters appeared; fearsome creatures that feared only fire." Link listened intently as the Princess described what happened while he was out cold.

"Lloyd! Where're ye goin?!" Lloyd suddenly burst out of the room he'd gone into, strapping on his swords more securely. He pulled his gloves on tighter, checked his clothes and then started marching toward the door.

"Lloyd?" The boy in red stopped and slowly turned toward Genis. Both he and Raine had come out of their room and now stood staring at him.

"I'm sorry Genis, Dad. But I can't just stay here. I've got to get out there and look for Colette."

"Lloyd, don't be a fool. Stay here, where it's safe!" Dirk shouted. Lloyd shook his head almost with a hint of sadness.

"I'm sorry, but I can't just sit here while Colette could be dying somewhere out there right now."

"Lloyd," interrupted Raine. "What are you going to do? Where are you going to look? I'm sorry to say, but Dirk's right. You can rush out without a plan, especially now."

"Professor, how can you say that?"

"Lloyd, I want to find Colette as much as you do," said Genis. "But Raine's right, we can't run off into the darkness without knowing where to look."

"I believe what has happened to Colette is linked to what is currently happening to this planet," said Zelda. "Therefore, if we figure out what's happening to this planet, we'll find Colette."

"I've assumed much the same," agreed Raine. "But under the circumstances, we are hardly equipped to go searching about for clues as to what's going on with the world."

"We could use those vehicles that Botta was talking about," said Genis. "There's bound to be one or two of them around here somewhere."

"And even if we did find something that would help expedite our search, where would we look?" asked Raine with a rising, exasperated tone. She'd argued the point into the ground. If anyone could raise a purpose for leaving, then she was out of ammo to fire back. It looked like her last point was unbeatable too, that is until Link spoke up.

"I believe I might have a clue as to what's going on," he said. Everyone turned to the oft quiet boy in green. He held up the black triangle that he'd found in the dungeon underneath the Martel Temple. "I think that when I touched this, I released some kind of evil spirit. I don't know how, but I think that evil spirit has something to do with what's going on."

"Hey," said Genis. "That's right. And what was all that weird writing in that room anyway; I'd never seen any of it before. It didn't look anything like the Angelic language." Raine twitched. A new language… She put the idea aside for the moment. Everyone else had seen Raine's twitchiness and was waiting to see if she was alright, except for Genis, who looked supremely frightened.

"Uh… what else can you tell _me_ about those _ruins_… Link?" asked Raine attempting to keep her ruin-mania in check, and as always, slowly failing. Link took a few steps backwards, staring wide-eyed at Raine, now seeing her in a new light.

"I… I… Uh, I…" he stuttered. "I remember that there was a large stone with more of the same writing on it in the first chamber of the dungeon. I also know it was ancient Hylian." Zelda's eyebrow arched in mild shock.

"Are you sure, Link?" she asked.

He nodded, happy to be talking to someone other than Raine. "Yes. I've seen ancient Hylian on a field trip with my school when we went to the old Temple of Time ruins."

"You mean your school in Hyrule, right?" asked Lloyd. "Hey, now that you mention it, didn't that Yggdrasill guy mention something about Hyrule?"

"Yes," said Raine, "now that I think about it, he did. And he called out to something called the Eternal Sword too. I wonder what it all means…"

"I would like to see this stone tablet for myself," announced Zelda. "It may lead us to more information about what's going on."

"Just a minute!" interrupted Dirk. "Now I know that I cannat be stoppin ye, since all yer minds seems set on leavin. But do yall even 'ave a plan to be gettin out-a-here? There be guards everywhere."

Raine nodded. "Dad's right," agreed Lloyd. "Can't we just use that same telepotty thing that brought us here?

"That's teleporter, Lloyd," said Genis flatly.

"And no," said Raine, "That room was heavily guarded, or didn't you notice the four security guards standing about the entrance." Lloyd's face grew red and he turned and coughed into his hand.

"And besides," said Link, "that place was full of cobwebs and dust and stuff. No place that a pri- …anyone should be going." Link barely caught the reference to Zelda's true identity in time. "It was so old too, older than the temple above it."

Raine randomly cackled out loud, grabbed Link around the neck in a headlock, and dragged him away and out of the tent. He cried out and started struggling, but nothing he did would loosen her steel grip. With staff in hand and Link in the other, Raine marched away with a gleeful manic expression on her face.

"Oh no," sighed Genis. "I was hoping wouldn't happen."

"You mean she's always like this?" asked Lloyd.

"Go'on Lloyd," said Dirk. "Me 'n the Brunell's 'll stay 'ere and watch o'er everything. Just be careful. And remember Dwarven vow number seven."

Lloyd groaned in annoyance. "I know, 'Love and Goodness will Always Win' right? Man that's so cheesy!"

"Hurry up Lloyd, or you'll be left behind," said Genis as he left the tent. Lloyd turned and was about to run off when Dirk stopped him again.

"'Ere," he said, dropping a travel pack into Lloyds' arms. It was full of gels and other healing and accessory items. Lloyd stared dumbly down at the bag. "Go, else you be left behind."

"Oh, right," said Lloyd, pulling the bag onto his back. He ran off in the direction that the rest of them went.

"I'm sorry, but it's too dangerous to leave the base and no one but Renegade soldiers are qualified to operate the four-by-fours," said a Renegade soldier. Raine had tried to leave, and when the soldier stopped her, she spotted a vehicle and tried to hop in only to have the soldier stop her again. She, however wasn't going to take no for an answer. However, instead of arguing further, she simply turned around and marched back the way she'd come.

"What are we going to do now?" Genis wondered aloud. Secretly, he was relieved that his sister wasn't able to get out. Both for himself and her as well. Genis closed his eyes and shrugged. "I guess we'll have to just give up, right guys?"

"Sorry to disappoint you, Genis, but I think the Professor found another way." Genis opened his eyes. Blinked a few times to make sure he was seeing what he thought he was seeing, and then balked.

Raine was currently climbing into one of the vehicles parked on the other side of line, out of sight of the guard, who'd gone back to standing next to the doorway while talking to his fellow guardsman. It looked like a wagon without a covered top. There were no harnesses to attach an animal to. And the wheels where made of some kind of black, rubbery material. Genis walked around the machine a few times then turned and looked around, sure that someone had seen them fiddling in the machine. But no one was even paying attention to them.

_So much for their rules about only Renegades using them,_ he thought wryly. Then he turned and looked at the contraption. _And to think they'd be this careless with some kind of advanced… Auto-mobile… Hmm… yeah, I like that name._

Raine sat herself down behind a large ring with grip ridges and fiddled with a few of the switches on the dashboard. The fascinating new machine suddenly came to life with a whirr when she turned a large switch, larger than the ones around it, that was situated just next to the wheel in front of her. With a widening grin, she said, "Everyone get in. I'm going to try to get us out of here with this." Her eyes lit up like freshly lit candles. "This technology is amazing," she gushed.

Link, having been dragged the entire way and dropped unceremoniously onto the ground once the crazed professor's attention was on the vehicle, was the last one to get into the vehicle. He plopped down on the plush, leather like seat in the last spot next to Genis. Genis sat next to Lloyd and all three sat in the back of the vehicle. In the front two seats were taken up by Raine, who sat behind the large ring, and Zelda who now sat in behind a deactivated computer console.

Raine tested the machine out, turning the ring experimentally and flipping a few switches. The she looked down at the floor, where she felt pedals by her feet. She tested those too.

"Seems simple enough," she thought aloud. "Turn this ring to turn the front two wheels. Press this pedal…" Raine lightly scraped her foot on the right most of the four pedals with her foot. The whirring became slightly louder and the vehicle started edging forward. "…and we move forward. Okay, I think I can do this!"

Lloyd looked to his right when he felt movement and then down at Genis who was now cowering with his head in between his knees. "Genis, what's wrong?"

"Lloyd, if you knew my sister the way I do, you'd be even more frightened than I am right now," the little mage replied. His fear was muffled by his mouth's proximity to the seat cushion, and thusly went unnoticed by the two older boys on either side of him. "The last time she tried to drive anything, it ended up badly."

Link and Lloyd gave each other nervous glances. "H-How bad can it be?" asked Lloyd. "I mean, it couldn't have been that bad, could it? I'm sure it was just a little bumpy, right Genis?"

"Lloyd, the wagon was in ashes when she was done with it," said Genis from between his legs. Lloyd swallowed loudly and Link grabbed the side of the vehicle with a death grip so tight his knuckles turned white.

Zelda turned and noticed a strap of materiel with a clasp on it. She followed the logical course of the strap and came to the conclusion that it was a safety harness. Once she'd locked the strap across her body, she nodded seriously at Raine. The silver haired teacher of Iselia did the same with her own belt and then proceeded to slam her foot down as hard as she could onto the accelerator.

* * *

Something tells me that situation isn't going to end well...

**Link**: "No, really?"

... Okay, the form's all filled out, time to send it in.

**Link**: "But I dont' want to go. Please don't make me go!"

... Maybe... if you talk less... Being a Link, you're supposed to not talk at all.

**Link**: "But I'm not a real Link. Well... sort of not. I don't have a game. Doesn't that give me a little leeway?"

Hmm... nope. I know that this chapter might seem a little odd. I edited the first half of the chapter, the Hyrule part, but didn't really do much on the second half in Sylvarant because I wanted to post this before I left for Sugoi Con in Kentucky this weekend. Yay Anime! So, if this chapter seems a bit rough, that's because it is. I'll look into updating the chapter with a new second half next week.

**Link**: "Please review."

And thanks for reading.


	8. Chaos Across Worlds

And now it is time for the next installment of Legend! Link! Name the Reviewers!

**Link**: "**_Jenova Remnant AKA Fishie_**, **_mandrakefunnyjuice_**,**_Canada Cowboy_**, **_Sakura the cherry alchemist_**, **_WhiteFoxDemon_**, and**_frostneko_** are the ones to lend their voices this time around."

Thanks all of you, and to you who read without reading a review too, but especially the reviewers, they're what makes this story go.

**Link**: "Thanks a lot for keeping me alive!" _Prostrates on ground_.

…erm, you don't need to prostrate yourself every chapter. You know that right?

**Link**: "Uh… heh, if you say so." _Waits several seconds before falling to knees and bowing continuously toward reviewers._

Alrighty then, do the disclaimer.

**Link**: "I.K.A. Valian does not own Tales of Symphonia or Zelda. Only plot changes, which there are a lot of, and original characters, like me!"

On with the story!

**!WARNING! Graphic description ahead. If you don't like reading it, skip over it. !WARNING! **

**!WARNING! On the other hand, if you like stuff like that, read on. !WARNING! **

* * *

Oh, and for those who don't know, I revised and reposted the Chapter Seven, the chapter directly before this. Its father smelt of Elderberries, thus I had to revise, so now it's a lot more linear and understandable, and its father still smells of Elderberries…. Darn.

* * *

- - - Sylvarant - - -

The projector image faded with a whir and the lights built into the conference room ceiling came to life. Yuan rubbed his tired eyes, stood up, and walked to stand where the images were being projected a few seconds prior.

"As you can see, we're in far more danger now than we were ever in before," he said. "As stated in the report, the Great Seed, Derris Kharlan, the Desians, Cruxis, and those completely loyal to Mithos are gone. The atmospheric anomalies, the earthquakes, and all manner of disasters are happening across Tethe'alla and Sylvarant at an increasing rate due to a sudden and sever lack of Mana."

"Look, man, not that all those things aren't important, but could you skip to the part where you tell us why you brought us here?" Yuan stopped in his speech, his tongue resting on the roof of his mouth in preparation for the next word. For nearly a millisecond, Yuan looked like a lost school boy. Swiftly a grimace filled with annoyance covered his face. How he loathed this infantile, philandering man.

"I brought you here, Zelos," Yuan bit out, "because you're the Chosen of Tethe'alla. Your ability to open the seals carries through on both sides of the world. _That_ ability is needed if we are to stop the world from flying apart in two weeks."

"Two weeks?!" shouted the Mizuho native, jumping to her feet. The small, brown, man made summon spirit perched on her shoulder nearly flew into the air, but managed to sink its claws into her lavender clothing. Kratos reached up and rubbed his left ear, glaring his annoyance at the loud woman.

"Yes," said Yuan. "My scientists believe that they can construct a machine that will effectively keep that from happening, but the only way to do it is with the full cooperation of the Summon Spirits within the seals. That is why I asked specifically for you, Sheena."

"O-oh, I-I see," said the female ninja, reaching a hand up to calm the irate Corrine on perched once again on her shoulder.

"You have the Right of the Pact," Yuan continued, "which is made evident by that thing on your shoulder." Corrine's fur bristled as he bared his fangs and growled at Yuan. Sheena sent the blue haired man a glare, but said nothing. Yuan, meanwhile, continued speaking, "This ability will enable you to make pacts with each of the Spirits, after which we'll be able to harness their Mana to regulate the machine and keep the planet in one piece."

"Alright," said Zelos, uncrossing his arms and leaning forward onto the desk. "We know why we're here. But what about his old, anti-social geezer over here?" Zelos threw his left hand back, his thumb hiked up. Kratos sat still, ignoring the redhead Chosen's jibe, brooding darkly.

"That," said Yuan, "is Kratos. A perfectly capable man of leading this small party to each summon spirit and on a timely basis at that."

"Yuan," Kratos said gravely, "your plan is flawed. O_ne_, the Great Seed is gone, and thus, any new Mana the world might have gotten to replenish what it spends is gone.

_Two_, the technology that you refer to as being able to keep the planet from flying apart was on Derris Kharlan, which as you say, has disappeared with Mithos.

And finally, how do you plan to get to all of the seals across both worlds on minimum power and within two weeks? It is physically impossible without a group of fully powered Rheairds, and even then, it won't be quick."

"Ahh, Kratos, ever ready to point out where others are weak." Yuan chuckled and scratched his chin, his eyes misting over with the fog of reminisce. "You know, I've never really understood how that trait came out of someone like you."

"I hardly think this is a time for idle chatter of ancient history," Kratos shot back. "I assume that you've found a way around these problems, otherwise, you'd not have bothered bringing us here and wasting our time."

"No," said Yuan, "you are correct. We do have a solution." Yuan walked to the side of the room and pressed a few buttons set into a wall panel. The center of the metallic conference table rippled and pulled back like a curtain being drawn. From below, a pedestal rose into the room. Upon the pedestal, under a glass dome, sat a small black triangle. Next to the black triangle, on another larger pedestal, sat a large marble tablet with alien writing etched into it.

"What in the world is that?" asked Zelos, now having dropped his carefree attitude. Kratos, unlike Sheena, didn't let his jaw drop in surprise, but instead arched an eyebrow out of curiosity. Both Kratos and Zelos stood up next to Sheena and peered closer to the object before them.

"That little black triangle," said Yuan, "is something that puts out Mana in a similar fashion to the Great Kharlan Tree did."

Now Kratos' jaw did drop. That small triangle produced Mana just like the Great Tree?! He'd never heard of such a device. Mithos' and all his engineers were unable to produce such a thing after 4000 years of trying. And here, Yuan had one such object inside of his desert base.

"Yuan-"

"Kratos, before you say anything, no, we did not create this. We found it below Melto-"

The sudden steady thumping of footfalls alerted everyone in the room to the soldier that burst into the room. He saluted toward Yuan, quickly eyed the others in the room, and then stiffened his form as he came to attention. "Sir," he announced, "There's been a problem in the hanger. Some refugee's have stolen a Rheound and driven off into the desert."

"Pixie spit!" Yuan cursed, "Have them tracked and tell me where they're going." The soldier saluted, spun on his heel, and high tailed it out the door. Yuan swept his cape behind him and strode to the door. There he pause and turned to face Kratos, Zelos, and Sheena. "Kratos, your transport is in Rheaird hanger eight. I trust you can figure the rest out on your own." Kratos nodded and Yuan sprinted out of the room. The door hissed shut, squealing as the room repressurized, leaving the Summoner, the Chosen, and the mercenary alone in the room. The triangle on the table disappeared, the holo-emitter whining slightly as it powered down.

"So old man," said Zelos to Kratos, sitting down and leaning back in a seat. "Looks like we'll be saving the world, huh?"

"It would seem so," said Kratos. He didn't feel particularly tickled by the idea of leading a bunch of inexperienced adolescents across the worlds, but it didn't look like he had much of a choice. _The Mizuho girl won't be a problem_, he though, _and I can deal with the Chosen. I just hope Lloyd will be alright._

Sheena suddenly backhanded Zelos, knocking him out of the chair. The chosen pouted from his sprawled position on the floor, he ego wounded, the left side of his face throbbingly red. Sheena, face red, stormed out of the room and down the corridor. Kratos shook his head and followed the woman out of the room. _This is going to be a nuisance,_ he thought.

* * *

- - - Unknown - - -

Colette's eyes snapped open as she was letting out a blood curdling scream. Heaving and filled to the brim with panic, she bolted forward. The strong iron manacle around her ankle did not allow her to travel far. It snapped taut, quivering in the loudly air, and quickly brought the Chosen to the ground.

Colette stayed completely still on the ground, pain lancing across the entire front of her body. Slowly, the nerves stopped firing and the pain receded. But the memory of what had happened continued to replay through the Chosen's mind over and over.

"Why…" she rasped, clenching her right hand into a tight, dirty fist.

The girl, alone and dirty in her cell, eventually stood up and took in her surroundings. She was alone in the dirty, grungy cell. Even the rats were dead, their bones piled up in the corner where a previous occupant obviously had feasted upon them. The dirt and grime built up on the bars and walls, the piles of rat bones, and the smell they produced paled in comparison to the previous occupant himself. Strapped to the wall with rusted chains, the dead man was half rotten, his half deteriorated intestines hanging loosely from his leathery midsection like wet noodles hanging from the maw of death. The body produced a smell that out performed the most rotten of eggs that Colette had ever had the misfortune of crossing paths with.

Colette gagged on and off for the first hour she was awake. Every time she thought she had control over her reflexes, the smell got to her again or a piece of the rotting man fell to the ground and drew her mind back to the corpse. After a long while, her senses were dulled enough, or she'd gotten used to the smell enough, she couldn't decide which, for her to move about the cell and check the place out. She'd attempted to look out into the dimly lit hallway through the bars, but the chain around her ankle prevented her from seeing beyond a few feet down the hall either way. Completely hopeless, the Chosen sat herself down on the ground and started chucking rat bones through the bars.

"Hey! Stop that!" shouted a voice from down the hall. Colette immediately stopped chucking rat bones and listened for the person to speak again. Hearing nothing, she chucked another bone, a rather large skull. It smashed into the wall across from Colette's cell, crumbling and forming a small pile on the floor below.

"Hey!" shouted the voice again, "I said stop that, ya lil ingrate." Colette, frown and picked up a handful of the bones. She then proceeded to throw as many of the little bones through the bars as possible. "Hey!"

Once the last bone was thrown, thundering footsteps echoed in approach to Colette's hallway. Almost immediately, a burly, tall, and fairly handsome man appeared donning a suit of shiny Desian armor. His lips curled as he growled at Colette through the bars, pushing himself against them as if to intimidate her with his sheer bulk. It worked.

Though she wanted to toss a few more rat bones at the man now that he'd appeared, her body just didn't move. Paralyzed from fear or just pure instinct of self preservation, Colette didn't do anything except gawk upward at the strongman guard glaring down at her.

"When I says stop, you STOP!" shouted the big man. "Got that girly?"

Colette nodded dumbly, silently wishing for this event to be over, her previous mental bravado hiding now in her shadow. The man glared daggers at her for several more seconds before he turned and walked back the way he'd come. The sigh of relief that escaped Colette almost made her faint.

The rest of the day went by much less eventful. She couldn't tell exactly what time it was, but there was a small window shaft built in to the top most part of the wall above her. When she'd looked through it, she could see clouds and a blue sky, but not much else.

When the sky had gone from blue to fiery red, the door to the dungeon cried out, swung open with great force. Colette stood up and moved forward as far as she could to see what she could. The guards moved to the front of her cell, opened the door with their cluttered key ring, and tossed four children in. Then they slammed the door shut. Satisfied it was completely locked, they nodded at each other, sneered down at the occupants inside of the cell, and then walked off.

Colette watched the four men leave and then turned toward the children. In the dim light, she couldn't tell how old they were or exactly what they looked like, but from the best her squinting eyes could tell they weren't any older than her. Most likely, they were younger.

The first one to get up was a boy with blond shaggy hair. He wore tattered clothes that looked a lot like what the children in Iselia wore. He hissed through his teeth and fell back down, clutching his hand.

"Owww!" he cried out. "It hurts." The boy scratched at the back of his hand, but whatever it was, Colette couldn't see. In the dim light though, it appeared as if the boy had some kind of implant in the back of his hand.

It wasn't long before the others woke up and that was when Colette caught her first glimpse of the fish like creature. It looked like a human, had a human face and shape, but it also had blue, rubbery skin, fins that wobbled about in the air, and gills that opened and closed every now and again. Once the creature was standing, it looked down at its chest and fingered the newly embedded jewel there.

The other two looked similar to the boy, except that one was barely wearing anything decent with striking red hair flowing out of a pony tail in varying wild fashions. And lastly was another boy with short and straight black hair and piercing red eyes. He wore clothes similar to the blond boy, except there were tears scattered about where pink flesh peeked through.

All at once, the four children became aware of the stench and their eyes started watering. They all looked around for the source, saw the decaying body, and immediately fell to the floor. The blond boy threw up while the other fought the urge to follow suit. Then, to make matters worse, they noticed Colette standing there looking at them like they were a circus act.

"Uh, hey…"

"Ahhh!" All four children ran toward the other side of the cell and plastered themselves against the dirty, grimy wall, staring wide eyed at the blond girl that had just talked to them. Colette watched them go and shrugged. If they didn't want to be at least nice enough to talk, they didn't have to.

"W-who are you?" asked the blond boy. Each one was coughing on and off, or wrinkling their nose in the red-head's case, from the stench, but the fear of this new person dressed in black with blond hair flowing down to her knees had pushed the majority of the nausea from their systems. They all clutched the black with grim wall with white knuckled hands, and white knuckled blue hands in the fish person's case. Colette tilted her head to the side curiously.

"Obviously, I'm a prisoner," she responded, pointing down at the manacle around her ankle. "My name's Colette, what's yours?" The boy looked at the others, ascertaining their opinions through eye contact. Then he sparingly edged forward until he was a few inches in front of the others.

"I'm Colin," said the boy. After several seconds of silence, the boy turned and motioned for the others to do something. Hesitantly the fish person moved forward.

"My name is Rutina," said the fish in a surprisingly soft spoken feminine country voice. She bowed slightly. The black haired boy stepped forward next.

"Rath," he said quietly with a nod. The red haired girl crossed her arms, snorted, and threw her head to the side indignantly, causing her hair to swoosh about.

"I am Gerudo. I'll not be lowered to giving my name out to random Hylians in some stinking jail cell." Everyone but the black haired boy looked shocked. He didn't actually show any emotion. A sudden image of Kratos jumped into Colette's mind, making her smile. Then an idea popped in as well and the smile broadened.

"Okay," she said. "So I guess we'll just be calling you Grouchy then, since you won't give us your name." Colette snickered on the inside and let the grind spread across her face when she saw the reaction play across the Gerudo's. The girl physically looked like she'd taken a physical blow.

"Fine," she spat, "I am Sister Ubella. That's 'you-bell-a'."

Colin was chuckling a little too loudly at Ubella's distress, so she smacked him in the back of the head, kicked him in the back of the knee, and then kneeled on his back once he'd fallen to the floor to keep him from getting up. Rutina gasped in shock and Rath simply stood there indifferently.

"Laugh at me at your own peril, Hylian," she growled.

"Get off me!" shouted Colin. He tried to push himself up, but he had no luck getting Ubella off of his back. "Get off me!" he shouted again.

"Hmph!" Ubella quickly stood up and kicked Colin in the side. Colin, cradling his side, rolled away from the crazed Gerudo teen and glared at her back. Ubella was now staring at Rath, or rather, she was scrutinizing his features.

"Have I met you somewhere?" she asked.

"No," he replied. She waited for him to go on, but he remained silent, staring back at her with unblinking red eyes.

"No? Is that all you have to say?"

"Yes."

"You are a right jerk, you know that?"

"Whatever."

"GRAH!" Ubella threw her hands up into the air and stormed to the side of the room. There she leaned against the grimy wall, grimaced, pushed away from the grimy wall and settled with simply standing there with her eyes closed, an expression of irritation stuck on her face. Rath smirked and turned his striking red eyes toward Colette.

"You said your name is Colette, right?" he asked. Colette nodded. Rath lowered his head and smirked. He turned and walked away, closing his eyes as he went. Rutina moved forward and bowed again.

"I'm sorry for earlier," she said in her strange country accent. "You startled us is all-"

"Speak for yourself, fish-girl!" spat Ubella. "I wasn't afraid! I was merely distancing myself from a possible enemy."

"Pshh!" Colin dismissed Ubella's assertion with a wave of his hand. "Yeah right, I heard you whimpering right next to me."

"Do you want to say that to my face, Hylian-slime?!" Ubella growled venomously. She jumped in front of Colin and grabbed him by the shirt. Baring her teeth like wild animal, she proceeded to growl intimidatingly.

"Please don't fight," begged Rutina, waving her hands about in the air.

Ubella turned her head and shouted, "Stay out of my business, fish-girl." Rutina backed away quickly, cowering beneath the laser vision of the Gerudo monster.

"Hey, she was only trying to help, Gerudo Dirt!" shouted Colin.

"What'd you say, Hylian-dog crap?!" Ubella shouted back, pulling him closer to her until their faces were nearly touching.

"SHUT UP!" All tension in the cell quickly fled. Fear once again rear its ugly head and all eyes turned to the humongous Desian guard menacingly leaning into the bars, as if he were going to pass right through them to violently rip them all to pieces with just a little more provocation. "You will all be quite from now on else I rip your tongues out! Got it?!"

All four children nodded slowly, unsure what to make of the giant. The guard grunted, turned, and stiffly stalked down the hallway. Colette turned her head back and forth, studying the retreating back of the Desian and the pale features of the frightened children. For some reason she found this funny and broke out in sniggers.

"What's so funny?" asked Colin.

"You guys," Colette said in between bouts of snickering.

"You're not Hylian," Colette stopped laughing when Rath said that, "are you?" Caught off guard, the Chosen tilted her head to the side and looked at the raven haired boy.

"No," she said, "I'm human. What are Hylians anyway, some kind of Half-elf?"

"Human…" Ubella mulled the word over for several seconds. "Neh, never heard of it. Probably just as bad as stinking Hylians though."

"Hey!" shouted Colin. All suddenly fell silent when the guard grunted loudly from down the hall.

"In any case," said Colette, "I've never heard Hylians or Gerudos for that matter."

"I thought as much," said Rath. "You're missing something that all Hylians have anyway."

"And you're definitely not a Gerudo!" Ubella said, miffed.

"I-" Colette stopped mid-sentence. She hunched over, grasping her stomach as if she'd contracted the worst cramps known to man. Eye's clenched; face red; short of breath; Colette stumbled and fell to the floor unconscious. Rutina gasped, the others just gaped. Shimmering pink effervescent wings had just sprouted from her back.

* * *

- - - Sylvarant - - -

"Look Out!" Raine grunted as Lloyd cried out, wrenching the ring in her hands to the right. The vehicle sideswiped and killed a group of wolves before it came to a complete stop. Luckily, she missed the largest and ugliest target. A literal mound of flesh, the wobbly monster slunk its way slowly toward the stopped vehicle, intent on another fresh meal of fleshy goodness. Lloyd and Link were the first ones out of the vehicle, closely followed by Raine, Genis, and then Zelda.

"What is that," shouted Lloyd. He skidded to a stop, Link next to him, throwing dust into the air. The flesh monster roared at them, emitting a sound so deafening that it dropped the two boys to their knees.

"Ahhh!" they shouted.

"This isn't good," said Genis, running forward a little bit. He stretched out his arm, Kendama in hand, and started playing. It would have looked incredibly out of place and immature of him had runes of red Mana not appeared in the air all around him. As the ball at the end of the string hopped up and down, the red runes circling around Genis became brighter and brighter until he shouted, "Fireball!" Three bright red balls of flame launched from the Kendama, flying wildly through the air leaving streaks of light on the retinas of all who watched them.

The fire balls slammed into the flesh monster, causing its large bulk to wiggle, jiggle, and wobble about, releasing a large, and poisonous cloud of concentrated methane. The monster cried out as the fire balls ignited the gas and the superheated flames scorched its flesh. But the small, completely unexpected explosion was not enough. The flesh monster was burned, to be sure, but the flesh that was burned, scabbed over and regenerated even as it was burned off, creating the image that nothing had happened at all.

Lloyd and Link were discovering this fact for themselves. Every slice they made healed just as quickly. And no matter how hard they tried, how many times they stabbed, or how much force they put behind their blows, the flesh monster repelled all of their attacks easily and came after them all the faster.

"Sis," cried Genis, "what do we do now?"

* * *

Oh, that sux, a flesh monster.

**Link**: "Wha- I don't have any lines!"

I told you, you talk too much.

**Link**: "But I don't talk too much!"

Oh well, too bad for you. He he he... Please review!

**Link**: "And thanks for reading!"


	9. A Contest of Evil

Time to name the suspects and persons of interest! That's right, these people did the most arduous act of reviewing. Link! Name them!

**Link**: "The culprits this time are _**mandrakefunnyjuice**_,_**frostneko**_,_**freakyanimegal456**_,_**Amekoryuu**_,_**Jenova Remnant AKA Fishie**_,_**WhiteFoxDemon**_, and _**Canada Cowboy**_."

That's right, these people actually reviewed the last chapter. A round of gratitude is owed to them.

**Link**: (_Sniff_) "They're all heroes!" (_Sniff_)

Okay then, on to other business. I did it again, that is, I revised the last chapter after I posted it. It is greatly improved. Also, you may notice a new warning at the top of the chapter, which means that there's a disturbing part in the chapter. Therefore, if you don't like it, don't read it. Some people do like it though, so have at it. And without further ado, on with_ this _chapter of Legend!

**Link**: "I.K.A. Valian does not own Zelda or Tales of Symphonia. Only plot changes and new characters."

* * *

- - - Hyrule - - -

Darkness reigned below, the thick rain clouds blocking all early morning light. The birds no longer roosted in their nests. The fauna, large and small alike, had fled long ago. The owls, long the night guardians of the Hylian plains, no longer cast their shadows across the fields of grass. Not even Mother Nature moved. The wind neither blew nor eddied. The moon was hidden. Silence so profound, so loud that it could drive a Cucco into a murderous frenzy, filled the grassy plains of Hyrule.

Ganondorf stood atop a hill amidst this silence. Wet from the rain, he pulled his favorite torn up, ratty, red cloak tighter around his shoulders and shivered slightly. Excitement burrowed its needly head into every fiber of his being. Holding back wasn't one of Ganondorf's strong suits. There was blood in the air, he could smell it. A massacre took place at Hyrule Market several days ago and the smell of everything that occurred wafted slowly upwards and southwards with the prevailing winds. That was three days ago and still, the smell of carnage filled the air. Ganondorf shuddered again, flaring his nostrils as he breathed the smell of death in deeply.

His Moblins reported an army of supposed flying 'Angels' that killed most of the people in the market and kidnapped the rest. It was something he was about to do himself. And now, whoever was controlling this angelic army was going to understand what it meant to interfere with the wielder of Power. Similar thoughts of smashing a potential rival made him shiver once more.

A Moblin hobbled up the hill, noisily grunting as the creatures made its way to him. When it reached his side, the creature of twisted flesh and warped mind bowed deeply out of fear more than respect and grumbled a few phrases in its guttural language. Ganondorf didn't reply, only smiled, but the Moblin knew he heard and ran much faster away than it had approached moments ago.

Still smiling, Ganondorf threw back his cloak and raised his right fist high into the air. The air around his fist vibrated as his hand glowed golden.

Etched into the back of the Evil King's hand, the sacred symbol of the Triforce, one small and perfect triangle stacked atop two more to create a larger, just as perfect triangle, burst forth with light. Of the three golden triangles present, only the top most geometric shape gave off any incandescence. The two supporting triangles remained dim.

The golden light produced by the Triforce of Power exploded outward. The beams of golden illumination stretched forth, like a vengeful god stretching forth its hand. Revealed in the valley below, was the army described to him, composed of monsters he'd never seen before and men with wings. The supposed Angels, he assumed.

The creatures below, screeching their surprise at being found out so easily, immediately surged forward. The King's evil smile turned into a triumphant leer as an army twice as large, composed of Moblins, Goblins, Bulblins, Bubbles, Stalfos, Stalchildren, and Keese, charged up the hill from behind him, crested the hill he stood upon, and fell upon the opposite army with a loud and piercing battle cry.

The Evil King's laughter was heard throughout the battle between the two armies. Gibidos and Redead lurched out of the ground already screaming and then latched onto unsuspecting, paralyzed Angels to suck the life out of them. Hundreds of thousands of Keese flew down out of the sky like a cloud of living, venomous, life sucking parasites, feasting quickly upon the ripe flesh of the airborne Angels. The Moblins crushed skulls. The Goblins shot arrows. The Bubbles burned monsters to a crisp. The Stalfos cut enemies down, and no matter how many times they tried, the Angels just couldn't defeat them. The roaring stampede of the Bulbos trampled any ground based enemies that dared to cross their path.

The dead bodies of the angel army and the monsters that accompanied them were strewn about the battle field by time the sun finally broke through the cloud cover, around noon that same day. Ganondorf was still laughing at this time. He was doubled over in gleeful laughter, only broken up by his now hoarse vocal cords.

Ganondorf straightened up just in time to see it happen. All of the Angels, dead or in pieces, lifted off of the ground and reformed. Their bodies renewed, they went on the attack again. With endless strength and a mindless courage, they slaughtered the dark armies of the Evil King. After it took all morning for Ganondorf's army to kill every angel, it took only ten minutes for the angles to kill his entire army.

"Not so funny now is it?" Ganondorf spun around. With wings composed of every color of the visible spectrum, the possessed Yggdrasill floated above the King of Evil. With the glowing Eternal Sword in hand, the Seraphim descended to Ganondorf's level, for he was still a tall imposing man, and ran him through as easily and effortless as slicing warm butter.

Ganondorf let out a guttural groan as the blade sliced deep into his innards. After that, a chuckle. The Triforce of Power enhanced his own magic and healed his body just as fast as it was damaged. By time Yggdrasill pulled the Eternal Sword from Ganondorf's gut, the King of Evil was back on his feet, charging a glowing ball of black and purple magic in his left hand while in his right glowed a white and gold ball of magic.

"I'll not be so easily defeated. In fact, no one can defeat me. Not anymore! I'm invincible! Mwahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaa!" Ganondorf's laughter echoed throughout the valley filled with his dead army. Even the Gibidos were dead, dug up by the Angels just so they could watch them quickly disintegrate in the sunlight. Agahnim laughed, outward at the apparently senile Ganondorf, as well as within the mind of Yggdrasill.

If this is the power of the Triforce, he thought, then it won't be long before I'm all powerful.

The inside of Yggdrasill's mind looked very much like the village of Heimdall, minus the elves. The only resident used to be Mithos himself. Now Mithos Yggdrasill was chained many times over, with countless locks and mechanisms, all to restrain him and keep him down. The long ago hero was now a prisoner within his own mind.

The black cloud that was Agahnim floated over the fallen hero and watched a floating picture, a portal to what Yggdrasill's own eyes were seeing. They saw Ganondorf leap forward, throwing both glowing balls of Magic at him. Yggdrasill's body, under the control of this dark, evil cloud, dodged and then proceeded to lay it into the King of Evil.

"Do you really think you can keep me in these chains?" asked the chained essence of Mithos.

"Actually," responded the cloud, which rippled as its voices sound waves were produced, "I intend to do as I wish. Maybe I'll banish your spirit later. Or perhaps I'll keep you as a pet while I rule the universe for all eternity."

"Do not think that the power of the Eternal Sword will let you do such a thing? If it can not even bring back my sister, what makes you think it will let you rule the universe?"

"The sword is just a tool," said Agahnim, "nothing more, nothing less." The chained up Yggdrasill fell silent after that and watched the visual along side the evil possessor.

Through Yggdrasill's eyes, they both watched Ganondorf being beaten to a pulp, only to regenerate for the beating to begin again. After a few hours of this, Agahnim grew bored. "You," he shouted at a passing angel. The mindless being dropped the dead body of a Moblin and rushed to kneel at the feet of Yggdrasill. "Take this piece of trash and have ManaCLs attached to him. Make sure they're set on maximum so that he really feels the pain."

- - - Elsewhere - - -

The rusty door hinges cried out as the large metal prison door swung open. The children all stood up and moved forward to grasp the grimy bars, pushing their faces against the bars as if they were going to push them through. Colette watched them but did not move. She sat where she woke, still numb after waking from her transformative sleep. And more to come, she thought.

Colette didn't understand why, but she wasn't hungry any more. The entire previous day, not once did food enter her cell. All day she grew hungrier and hungrier, though the dead man on the wall next to her didn't help matters. And now… it was as if she'd never been hungry in the first place. And even though it scared her, to heck with that, it plain out terrified her. And yet, she'd never let anyone see it. It was her burden to bear. After all, she was the Chosen.

"Who do you think it is?" asked Colin, interrupting Colette's thoughts. She peered through the kid's legs in a vain attempt to see past them.

"Maybe it's more people from the Market," said Rutina, "maybe our parents."

"Not likely," said Rath, "The Angels killed our parents."

"No!" shouted Rutina. "They kept us alive! Our parents have to be alive too!"

"Feh," snorted Ubella. "Not like it matters."

"Quiet!" hissed Colin, "they're coming."

Heavy footfalls filled the dimly lit cellblock. When the man being carried by two Angels passed the cell, all four children gasped. Though he was unconscious and his arms and legs were bound by a large block of what looked like molten metal, the man still frightened the children enough to make them scrambled for the back wall. Even Ubella looked on the verge of breaking down, to which she'd later deny.

But the man wasn't what caught Colette's attention; he was in no better situation than any of the rest of them were. No, it was the Angels. Why would Angels work with the Desians, she wondered.

The two mindless angles dragged unconscious man down the hallway. The whining of a cell block door and what sounded like a sack of manure being dropped onto the ground signaled that the man was now in a cell.

Colette turned around and gave the children hiding behind her a quizzical look. They didn't budge from that spot until the hallway door ground shut with a loud clang. Even then, the children were too spooked to talk all that much. It took Colette nearly an hour to get them to speak.

"So," said Colette, "who was that?"

"That," said Rath, the only one willing to speak, "Was the evil man who attacked Hyrule Castle."

"He doesn't seem so evil," said Colette, thinking of how the man looked so helpless, bruised, and not to mention unconscious. Colin was shaking his head.

"Don't let him deceive you," he said, "He is Gerudo."

"As if!" shouted Ubella, jumping up. "That vile man was cast out from our people a long time ago. He's an unholy blight up on any land he steps foot onto. He stopped being Gerudo the moment he betrayed us anyway, so he isn't our King."

"Says you," muttered Colin.

"Will you two knock it off," Rath rasped. "You're going to wake him up with all your incessant banter. Then we'll all be in trouble." The Hylian and the Gerudo both were surprised and cowed by Rath, silent but for the insults their eyes were still tossing at each other.

"You said that Angels killed your parents?" Colin and Ubella ignored her question, continuing the silent insult-o-thon. Rutina answered this time.

"Yes," she sniffed. "Mine were dragged away though. I just know they're still alive. They just have to be."

"Mine are dead," said Rath. Colette felt for the boy, though she didn't show it outwardly except for a softening of her expression. "But it wasn't angels that killed them. They died in service to the King." The boy sounded extremely proud as he spoke. "It was an attempted assassination. My parents were both assigned to protect the Royal Family at the time. And they were both caught up in the attack. I was only five at the time, so I don't know everything that happened, just bits and pieces that have filtered down to me over the last seven years."

Colin temporarily halted his glaring contest to give Rath a strange look. "Your parents were guarding the King?" Rath nodded. "Doesn't that mea-"

"I'd rather not talk about it," Rath said, ending the conversation.

"You know," said Colette, "I swear I've heard of this Hyrule place before."

"How," asked Rutina, "If you're not Hylian how have you heard of Hyrule?"

"Well," said Colette, "I come from a place called Iselia. It's a small town in Sylvarant. These Desians and Angels were all there too, but… Then all this weird stuff started happening. First Link showed up and then- That's it!" Colette's eyes lit up and she nearly punched the air. "I know where I heard of Hyrule before, it was Link! He said he was looking for a way back to Hyrule."

"I've never heard of any 'Link'," said Colin.

"Me either," said Rutina. Rath and Ubella both shook their heads. Colette sighed.

"Well, that's the only thing I have," she said. "Oh, and there was Zelda too." Several eyes widened in recognition.

"You mean the Princess?" asked Colin.

Colette tilted her head to the side, and closed her eyes. "She did have nice clothes on," she said, imagining the last time she saw the blond haired lady. "And she did have a funny way of talking, kind of like Kratos. Are you telling me that Zelda was Hyrule's Princess?"

"Who's Kratos?" asked Colin.

"Oh he's the bastard mercenary who got me into this mess," explained Colette. "I remember him carrying me to this Yggdrasill guy and then everything went black. Next thing I knew, I was in here."

"Princess Zelda… are you sure it was her?" asked Rath.

"I don't know, I've never met a Princess before." Colette concentrated again. "She did have blond hair, was kind of tall, and didn't seem like the kind of person to go rushing off into things unprepared. But… she seemed like she was hiding something. I wonder why she didn't tell us she was a Princess."

"Perhaps she did it to hide her identity. Royalty is never safe after all," said Colin knowingly. Rath snorted at Colin's statement, but didn't add anything to his statement.

"Wow," sighed Rutina, "you got to meet royalty!" She nearly squealed in delight, and would have, if not for the guard that walked slowly passed the front of the cell. He eyed each of them in turn, daring them to give him an excuse to leap through the bars and attack. When he was passed their cell, the five inside let out a collective sigh of relief.

"That guy needs a hug," said Rutina.

"Or a good knock on the head," said Colin.

"I like both," said Colette. The four gave her strange looks, to which she responded with a shrug. "It couldn't hurt."

"You said that the Princess was in someplace called Sylvarant?" asked Rath, changing the subject back once more. Colette noticed that the oft quiet boy was now very animated. It appeared that mention of Zelda was the cause of this change.

"Yes," said Colette. "She was the only other person, besides Link, that was looking for a way back to some place called Hyrule…" Colette fell silent and then quickly added, "back to here."

"If the Princess is alive, and that guy's still around," Colin said, jerking his thumb toward the wall they shared with the monster's cell, "the Legend must be true?"

"Legend?" asked Colette.

"There is a Legend," explained Rath, "that every time the land of Hyrule is threatened by great evil, a Hero will rise up and vanquish it. Throughout history, in every incarnation of the Legend, the name of Princess Zelda has always been present, though the hero's name is never mentioned once. So, since the Princess' name is always associated with the Legend of the Hero, the Legend has come to be called Zelda's Lullaby or the Legend of Zelda."

"More like a myth if you ask me," said Ubella dismissively.

"What about this Link guy," asked Rutina, "could he be the Hero?" After several seconds of thought, both boys shook their head, Colette shrugged, and Ubella snorted.

"If this Link guy was the Hero of Legend, then he'd be in Hyrule, not Sylvarant." Colin crossed his arms confidently. With a chuckle, he said, "He's probably running scared from some monster right now."

- - - Sylvarant - - -

"Ahhhhh!" shouted Link. His legs pumped as fast as they could, carrying him away from the ever closer flesh monster. The beast had come up with a new way of getting around. How it managed to roll its massive bulk along the ground like it was now was difficult to imagine for Link, but he was sure that it was going to end up badly for all of them if nothing happened. So, Link ran away from the group in an attempt to draw it away.

The flesh monster had taken a liking to Link in particular and decided to chase him down first. It could have been the flashy spinning sword move he used in an attempt to hurt the beast, or it could be that it had taken a sick fancy toward the boy. Whatever the case was, wherever Link ran, the beast followed.

Link made his way across the spacious battle field into a copse of trees. When he got there, he came to a stop, heaving against a tall, old, strong tree with wide four-pointed leaves. Link looked up at the flesh monster, expecting to see it slowing down, he instead watched it speed up and had to duck as the monster slammed into the huge old tree and snapped it in half like a twig. Like a bowling ball, the flesh monster knocked down the entire copse of tree-pins, all snapped in half and blowing in the after blast like reeds in the wind.

The flesh monster quickly came to a stop, turned around, and locked eyes, if it had eyes, with Link who was slowly standing back up in the mess of the tree copse. Seeing its prey, the monster surged forward once more. Link felt a new wave of adrenalin pumping through him as he watched the flesh monster start rolling once more and the instinct to flee took over.

"This is not good," said Raine between deep breaths. The group was running after Link and the flesh monster, trying to catch up to the beast before it killed Link. "It's impossible to kill that thing, we aren't strong enough. We need to rescue Link and get away from that thing as fast as possible."

"But Raine," objected Genis between heaves, "look at that thing, it's getting faster every second. We'd never be able to get away from that thing."

"I believe that I may be able to defeat the monster," shouted Zelda from the back of the group. The other looked over their shoulders as they ran at the Princess for elaboration, but all she said was, "Just keep it distracted and in one place for fifteen seconds."

"Got it," shouted Lloyd. "Come on, let's give this thing something else to chase!" Lloyd took off, somehow running even faster.

"Lloyd!" shouted Genis. Both Genis and Raine sped up, but never matched Lloyd's new burst of speed, Zelda noted. She slowed to a stop and watched the flesh monster switch targets from Link to Lloyd. The new moving objects in the area seemed to confuse the monster, which was just as Zelda had hoped. All that really meant though was that she didn't have to worry about the monster realizing what she was doing.

The Princess extended her long slender arms on either side of her, as if she were attempting to hug a boulder. With eyes shut, she started murmuring, whispering really, words and sounds that all flowed together like a song, or a poem. Slowly, she moved her extended hands forward until they were stretched out in front of her, one palm of her gloved hands facing the other. In between her palms a small puff of smoke appeared, followed by a growing ball of red, yellow, and orange flames. The ball of fire stopped growing after several seconds, shrinking until it looked like a star shining in between the Princess slender fingers. Fingers that were straining to remain straight as the small star like ball began to grow extremely bright and dense with energy.

The others weren't having much luck with the flesh monster, but they were distracting it. Every time one of them became the target, another would run across the monster's path and confuse it.

That strategy worked until the flesh monster started moving even faster. Then the task of confusing it became almost impossible since running across its path mean that one was more likely to be running into it.

And run into it is exactly what Lloyd did. He realized that he was about to hit the monster before he even made contact. So it was no surprise when Lloyd spun away after slamming into the side of the monster, that he was able to land so easily.

After several more close calls, the flesh monster stopped dead still. Without waiting to see what it was going to do next, Lloyd cried out, "Demon Fang!" sweeping his sword along the ground. The force of the swing created a wave of energy that cried out like a demon as it traveled across the surface of the ground and bit into the side of the flesh monster.

Lloyd followed up this move by rushing in and jabbing his blades into the monster as quickly as he could with a cry of "Sword Rain!"

Genis shouted, "Wind Blade!" before Lloyd was finished with his work, but the spell he cast didn't activate until Lloyd was finished. Finally, it activated and created a shell of green Mana infused air around the flesh monster, inside of which thousands of nigh invisible blades of wind sliced into the flesh monsters' hide. The monster cried out as gashes opened up on its skin, joining the ones already created by Lloyd, allowing copious amounts of blood to spill out.

"Great Spin!" Link twisted around and then quickly unleashed the tension in his body. He started spinning with both of his swords held in a back hand position so that the blades of the two sabers trailed behind his hands. The blades sliced over and over into the same spot so quickly that a hole opened in the monsters side. Blood and few other things spit out of the hole before it quickly closed back up, the great monster healing itself once more.

Link stopped spinning and immediately dropped to the ground, his arms and legs flailing around, his face completely screwed up in dizzy confusion. Unfortunately, the monster saw this and acted immediately. Its giant maw stretched out of the dissipating sphere of wind and swallowed Link whole.

With a loud swallow and a deafening, triumphant roar, the flesh monster turned to attack the others but they were all running back toward Zelda. All had turned and run as soon as their attacks were complete, leaving Link's demise completely unnoticed. The monster roared again and charged.

"O Great Goddesses Three," sang Zelda in a low, alto voice, "Grant me thy power, To vanquish mine enemies, I call upon your… Din's Fire!"

The Princess spun around, the ball of light leaving a trail in the air, dazzling all who watched. After making a full three hundred and sixty degree turn, the Princess clenched her hand around the fiery ball and then let go, flinging the ball of light at the monster. The monster leaped, mouth open. The small shining ball of pulsing power flew through the air, slowing the farther it went and was quickly swallowed up by the airborne monster.

Moments passed as the monster flew through the air, the ball of light illuminating the inside of the beast, making it appear to glow red. Just as the monster's immense mouth was ready to chomp down on Zelda and those standing fearfully behind her, the ball of light exploded.

The explosion happened in a matter of seconds, about the time it took for Lloyd to blink once, sending pieces of the flesh monster down on the group and all around them. The group put their hands up too late to guard against the wave of flesh, blood, and guts. Lloyd, who'd backpedaled while trying to wipe the goop off of his face, received an extra serving when Link fell from the sky and landed on top of him. The green boy was covered in slime, guts, and an assortment of other indescribable thing.

A small jewel, one of the last things to hit the ground, landed in front of Genis. Still spitting and wiping guts off of himself, he carefully bent over and picked it up, looking it over carefully. "Hey Lloyd," said the boy genius, "Isn't this an Exsphere?"

Lloyd pushed Link's body off of him with a grunt, causing the green clad Hylian to slide through the fleshy goo spread all around ground zero. He then stood up and managed to slip on the only non-slimy patch of ground and fall back down, directly on top of Link.

Link, just now coming to his senses, grunted when Lloyd fell on top of him. He shook his head in an attempt to throw off the goo on his face and then pushed Lloyd to the side, trying to get out from underneath him. Lloyd, trying to push himself onto his knees, managed to knock Link's hands out of the way. Both boys ended up slipping again and fell into another pile.

"Yes Genis," said Raine, answering Lloyd's question for him, as she looked over the goo covered jewel in question. She took it from Genis' outstretched hand and brought it closer to her face. "That is an Exsphere. But what was it doing inside of that monster?"

"Perhaps the monster consumed the person that it was attached to," suggested Zelda.

"Perhaps," agreed Raine. "We might as well make use of it ourselves, seeing as the previous owner is no longer able to." Raine moved to attach the gem to the back of her right hand.

"No, don't!" shouted Lloyd. Raine paused, the jewel scraping against the fine hairs on the back of her wrist. "You can't use an Exsphere like that. You need a Key Crest first."

"Oh, I didn't know about that," said Raine curiously. She turned to Lloyd and smiled. "Perhaps you could tell me about it on the way up to the temple. We're not far now."

Lloyd groaned, realizing what he had just gotten himself into. Being taught by the Professor was one thing, but teaching the overly excitable ruin maniac was another thing. At least she didn't attach that jewel to her hand, he thought.

The group set off once more, on foot this time, and entered the darkened village of Iselia not long after just as Raine had predicted. They were all too happy to leave the smelly mess behind, though Genis and Lloyd complained about how the goo was starting to get sticky. Raine told them to quite complaining and moved faster in an attempt to ignore the squelching sounds her own gooey, sticky boots were making.

As they walked, Lloyd explained the relationship between Exspheres and Key Crests and how to use both in conjunction. Everyone listened in. As Raine put it, in the middle of his explanation, this was one of the few subjects Lloyd knew anything about. Lloyd grumbled at the soft insult but continued explaining regardless.

After Lloyd finished explaining, they all fell silent, glancing about at the shadowy village. They half expected another flesh monster to jump out of the shadows at every turn. Raine pushed the light emitting from the crystal atop her staff as far as it would go. Slowly and warily they made their way out of the abandoned village.

Link slowed so he was walking next to the Princess in the back of the group. She waited patiently, knowing that he was curious about something. "Princess, how did you defeat that monster?" he asked finally. Zelda was silent for several minutes, contemplating what to say exactly, before she answered.

"I used an ancient spell," she said finally, "passed down by the Goddesses to the people of Hyrule." Link's eyes widened and his mouth opened in astonishment.

"W-wow!" Link stuttered. For a moment longer the astonished, open mouthed expression remained on Link's face. Then he looked away, his cheeks reddening in embarrassment. "I-I didn't really expect that you could do that."

"Do you really think that one of the Princesses of Hyrule would be so incapable?" she asked, incredulity lacing her tone of voice. Yet, though she sounded indignant, her composure and facial expression revealed that she was finding this whole situation, most especially Link's embarrassment, amusing. "I was taught by the Sages and the finest Knights of the realm," she stated with an air of mock haughtiness.

"Uncle taught me how to do that," Link stated proudly, suddenly popping out of his shell like a hyperactive juvenile. "Do you think it's possible that my Uncle was one of your mentors?"

Zelda shrugged noncommittally, though she purposely let a sly smile creep onto her face. "It is possible," she said. "I did have many mentors over the last ten years or so. My Father, however, thought it wise to rotate my instructor every three weeks. I never really got to know any of them in the end."

Just as Zelda finished speaking, the group arrived at the steps of the Martel Temple. Raine fawned over the _magnificent_ structure and started lecturing about the importance the site of the Temple once held during the reign of the Balacruf Kingdom. The others promptly ignored the lecturing professor and scattered about the area, looking for clues.

After finding nothing of relative interest outside, the group dragging Raine away from a particular _fascinating_ inscription and entered the Martel Temple. Inside, nothing immediately revealed itself to the light shining from Raine's staff. Then Lloyd found a large hole in the floor by falling into it.

"Ow!" he shouted. "Where'd this hole come from?" He rubbed the newly formed bump on top of his head. As Genis helped the older boy back onto his feet, Raine approached the hole with her staff held high. Inside of the hole, she found a set of stairs descending down into the darkness below. Something wasn't right though.

"It appears that some kind of… massive creature dragged itself up these steps," explained Raine, pointing to the gouged out middle part of each stone step, "and bashed its way through the floor."

"Let's just hope that it hasn't come back," said Lloyd, starting down the stairs. "Let's go down and see what we can find."

"Lloyd!" shouted Genis. But it was too late; the red clad swordsman became enveloped in the darkened stairwell. Raine squared her shoulders and set her jaw, then followed Lloyd's example, and started down the stairs. Genis, Link, and Zelda turned to look at each other, then at the darkness quickly growing around them. They quickly came to the same decision and bolted down the stairs.

The stairwell was long, but straight. It descended at a perfect forty five degree angle and except for the gouges in each step the entire structure was still as perfectly crafted as the day it was cut from the rock. The stone worker's chisel marks could still be seen on the walls.

At the bottom of the stairwell, the group found themselves in front of an arched entryway to a circular, tube-like stone tunnel. The scents of dust and ancientness filled the air. Fire dripped like melted wax from the already lit torches lining the wall as the oil feeding them overflowed and fell to the floor.

The groups' footsteps echoed loudly in the tube-like tunnel as they marched slowly down the center. They pressed against each other as tightly as they could, warily keeping an eye or two in every direction that they could. All over the walls glyphs were carved with painstaking care to appear in a repeating diamond patter. The tunnel stretched for many yards until it opened up like the jaws of a crocodile into the first room with the marble slab.

The tablet, much to the disappointment of everyone, had been smashed into several pieces by something strong enough to destroy a two foot by five foot by two foot thick piece of marble with just one blow. The door behind the tablet that lead to the rest of the dungeon had caved in, rocks completely filling the passageway.

"Fantastic!" shouted Raine. Ignoring its current state of destruction, she rushed up to the pieces of marble lying on the ground and started to lovingly brush the rubble away and polish it. "I've never seen writing like this before. It's a new language," she gleefully gloated. "It's hard to believe another language existed in Sylvarant. That must mean another civilization existed here too. And it's directly below the Martel Temple. This proves that there was another civilization here thousands of years before the Kharlan War! This is absolutely fantastic!"

"It says here that this is the story of Agahnim, the Evil Wizard," said Zelda, stooped over a piece of marble that once occupied the top right corner of the marble tablet. Raine's head shot up like a balloon shot full of helium. She twisted her neck around to stare at Zelda in a way that looked quite demonic to the boys standing in the back of the room.

"You can read it!" shouted Raine in her high pitched, ecstatic voice. "Read more! Now!"

Zelda calmly ignored the spazzed out half-elven teacher and said, "I've not read this form of Hylian since being forced to learn how Hyrule was created." Raine forward and grabbed Zelda by the shoulders. She then proceeded to shake the princess back and forth, sending the young woman's blond tresses flying wildly through the air.

"Quit stalling and read! Read! Read! Read! Read!" she shouted.

"Sis! Stop!" Both Genis and Lloyd lurched forward and grabbed onto Raine. They forced the crazed half-elf to drop Zelda, who fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes, and then dragged her away. Zelda quickly collected her wits about her, shook herself to throw off the dizzy confusion, and regained her composure. Then she turned and gave Raine a glare that said 'If you don't cease acting this way, I'll stop reading'. The Professor immediately understood and calmed down. Her lips continued to quiver in anticipation, making both Lloyd and Genis stick around her for good measure.

Zelda took a deep breath to calm herself and then turned back to the pieces of marble. After reading a few lines of the ancient Hylian etched onto the stone she said, "It says that an evil Wizard named Agahnim was once a powerful Voidred, a term I am unfamiliar with. He used his powers for evil and avarice until travelers from afar arrived and sealed him away…"

Zelda suddenly stopped reading, causing Raine to fidget. She got up and moved next to Zelda, with Lloyd and Genis trailing almost literally on her heals. "What's the matter, dear" she asked. Zelda reached out and traced a piece of the etchings.

"They were using something called the Proto-Triforce," she said in astonishment. Zelda turned to Link with an expression that couldn't quite be defined. "I've never heard of it called that before," she said to him.

Link reached into his pocket and produced the black Triangle. "Do you think that this is part of that other Triforce?" he asked.

"What's a Triforce," asked Lloyd.

"Yes," agreed Raine, "and more importantly, how is it related to our situation."

Zelda shook her head at Link before he could explain and said, "All will be revealed in good time. However, I would like to finish translating this stone tablet right now." Raine reluctantly nodded in acceptance, though questions of all kinds were now racing through her mind. Who are these people, she wondered.

"The people celebrated for many moons," Zelda translated and then stopped. She looked around the room suddenly and moved to another piece of the marble tablet with more writing on it. After pre-reading for several seconds, she said, "Then the travelers from afar used something called the Spell of Before to travel home." She paused. "This next part is in another dialect. Actually, I've never seen this dialect before and it reads more like a journal entry than a declaration of victory. It says that after many moons, the seal of the Wizard was still intact, but the guardians had some doubts as to whether the spirit of the Wizard was truly contained. To ensure that he remained contained forever, they built a dungeon around each of the pieces of the Proto-Triforce, sealed the entrance and…" Zelda moved quickly over to the last piece of the marble tablet. "…and that's it. The rest is illegible. It's almost like the person writing it went mad."

"Princess, do you know what this means?" asked Link, excited. His excitement quickly faded as he realized what he'd just blurted out.

"Princess?!" Lloyd, Genis, and Raine said at the same time.

Link stopped, his enthusiasm drained like the blood from his pale face. "Oops."

"I see," said Raine, some of the pieces already falling into place. Genis caught on and looked upon Link and Zelda in a new light.

"Yes," sighed Zelda, standing up. She regally curtsied, formally introducing herself. "I'm the Royal Heir to the Kingdom of Hyrule, Princess Zelda of House Hyrule. And yes, Link, I know what it means. If we can find this Spell of Before, then perhaps we too, might be able to return home to Hyrule."

"But what about the Triforce thing?" asked Genis. "And that evil Wizard? You don't think that cloud we saw was that Agahnim guy, do you?"

"I think…" Lloyd began slowly, choosing his words carefully, "I remember that the guy Kratos thought was some Yggdrasill guy called himself Lord Agahnim. My guess is that this evil Wizard Agahnim and Lord Agahnim are the same guy. And when he kidnapped Colette, he said something about Hyrule. So if that's where they are, that means we also need to go to Hyrule, because that's where Colette is."

"But how are we going to stop him if they couldn't stop him last time without the Triforce," asked Link.

"Just what is this Triforce you keep talking about?" asked Lloyd. "I'm getting sick and tired of this secrecy stuff. Come on Link, Zelda, tell us already."

"Lloyd," Raine said in a hushed tone. She gently laid a hand onto the auburn haired boy's shoulder. She could feel the muscles moving beneath as Lloyd slowly relaxed. "They've got their own reasons for not telling us everything. Zelda is, after all, a princess. And there are probably many more reasons. Would you tell someone that you just met something that could potentially hurt Colette?" Lloyd paused for a moment and then nodded reluctantly. Raine smiled. "I have no doubts that whatever this Triforce is, it is very important. And I think that they will tell us, in time." Raine turned and faced Zelda. "I just hope it isn't too late then."

"I would rather explain everything once the situation calms down a bit and we're in a more safe environment," replied the Princess. "Once that concern is allayed, I will explain everything. Until then, I beg that you be patient."

"Alright," said Lloyd with a nod. "We'll wait, but you've got to promise that you will tell us."

Zelda smiled and said, "It's a promise."

"Princess Zelda." Genis shuffled his feet awkwardly and bowed. "Uh…"

"Please. Zelda fine. There's no need for titles in this situation like." Genis laughed lightly, his cheeks reddening in embarrassment. Lloyd snickered behind his back, which Raine responded to by smacking Lloyd in the head.

"Alright, uh… Zelda, I just wanted to know if the inscriptions said anything about where the other pieces of the Triforce could be found." Zelda paused for a moment and then moved back to each piece of the marble tablet. After searching through each one twice, the princess shook her head.

"This tablet doesn't say how to find the Proto-Triforce, just to stay away from it," she said, standing up straight. "My guess is that each piece is connected and that there should be a clue somewhere around here that will direct us toward the next piece."

"The only thing down here is dust, bones, and that fire from the torches," said Lloyd.

"Maybe…" Raine paused and then crossed her arms, deep in thought. "There might be one more thing here that we overlooked."

"Sis, what do you mean?" Genis looked at his sister curiously.

"First, let's all move back into the tunnel!" Raine quickly rushed out of the room. Moments later everyone was in the tunnel. "Now tell me, what do you see?"

"Sis, Lloyd already pointed out that the only thing down here is dust, bones, and fire from the torches." Genis shrugged. "There really isn't anything else." Raine didn't say anything, instead moving closer to the wall and brushing a layer of dust off of the wall to reveal more of the inscriptions carved there.

"Zelda, if you would be so kind…" Raine moved to the side with a dramatic flourish. Zelda stepped forward and reached out to touch the inscriptions.

"It appears to be a mantra. It's the same thing repeated over and over again. It says, 'Devils shout with glee for those who enter the eternal desert, for they will burn in eternal hellfire.' It sounds like a warning."

"That it does," Raine agreed. "But it has a greater meaning than that. Lloyd, please explain how the Triet Desert came into being."

"What?! I have to learn here too? Awe, come on Professor!"

"Lloyd." Raine's tone of voice caused Lloyd to sulk.

"Fine," he pouted. "The Triet Desert came into being… uh… it was created… uh… I don't remember."

"The Triet Desert came into being when Efreet, the Ruler of Hellfire went berserk and caused the destruction of the original city of Triet," recited Genis perfectly.

"Exactly," said Raine as she gave Lloyd a disapproving look. "Therefore, the next piece of the Proto-Triforce must be in the eternal desert, where the Summon Spirit of Fire, the Ruler of Hellfire, Efreet reigns."

"So then our next destination lies in this Triet Desert," Zelda concluded.

"Yes, it does," said Raine.

"Alright," shouted Lloyd, punching his fist into the air. "We get to go to the desert!"

"You're always so excited in the beginning," complained Genis.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean," asked Lloyd.

The group eventually made its way out of the ancient ruins of the Martel Temple and started back toward the Rheound. High above them, sitting upon the mountain side, a bird like beast watched them go. His eyes glowed as he pushed off from the cliff and soared higher into the air on large leathery wings.

* * *

- - - Elsewhere - - -

"It's lucky for us that those Renegades had these Rheairds all ready for us, otherwise we'd have to walk through that nasty desert down there." Zelos leaned back casually on his flying craft. The three of them, Zelos, Sheena, and Kratos, were flying blind in the darkness. They couldn't see more than five feet in any direction. Luckily, that's what the RADAR was for. It let each of them know where the other two were and how far away from their target they were.

"Zelos, stop slacking off!" shouted Sheena. "You're going to fall off and end up in that desert if you're not careful."

"Awe, I didn't know you cared," said Zelos.

"Quiet," said Kratos. "We're almost there now. Concentrate on the mission so we can move onto the next seal in a timely manner."

"Yes, Sir, General, Sir!" said Zelos with mock respect. Kratos grunted and started his descent. The others followed and landed in the ruins of the old city of Triet. "This place is really creepy," commented the red haired Chosen of Tethe'alla. He picked up a piece of wood that used to be a door and watched it disintegrate in his hands.

"This way," Kratos said, walking away from the parked Rheairds.

* * *

And thus ends this chapter.

**Link**: "Wow, I got more lines in this one."

Yeah, you had to say something every now and again. You still talk too much though.

**Link**: "Yeah, whatever."

Let me just say that if this chapter seems kind of raw and unrevised, it is! I'm just too impatient to revise it immediately. However, as seems to be my pattern of late, I will revise it before I write the next chapter. In any case, please review.

**Link**: "And thanks for reading!"

* * *

**Revision Completed December 29th, 2007 11:20 AM**


	10. Escape the Temple of the Goddesses

Well, it looks like I'm onto another chapter.

**Link: **"Wow, it's chapter Ten already!"

Amazing that it's lasted that long… Okay, here are the chapter eight reviewers: Lady_**Jenova Remnant AKA Fishie**_, Sir _**Canada Cowboy**_, Lady _**Amekoryuu**_, Lady_**mandrakefunnyjuice**_, and Lady _**Rini Tsukino**_.

**Link:** "Thanks for reviewing. I wonder where everyone else went… Usually more people leave comments."

True, but sometimes people just don't have time to get on the internet. Like me for instance, I wasn't able to even write this until just recently because of school/family business. I'm sure that it'll all work out in the end though. Now, it's disclaimer time!

**Link:** "Great… I.K.A. Valian doesn't own Zelda or Tales of Symphonia. The only thing he does own is me, plot changes, and… well not much else, just a crabby personality, and that's on a goo-mmmph"

Okay, that's enough out of you. On with the story!

* * *

- - - Sylvarant - - -

Kratos stood fast and silent, his cape and spiky auburn hair blowing listlessly in the dry desert wind. Before him lay the destroyed polycarbonate barrier stone and the open crypt that housed the Seal of Fire. Behind him, Zelos and Sheena looked on curiously.

"Something wrong?" asked Zelos.

"It appears so," was all Kratos said.

Zelos and Sheena glanced at each other and then back at the pieces of Polycarbonate stone scattered about on the ground. They put two and two together and figured that whatever was bothering Kratos, it had something to do with the rocks scattered about this crypt. To them, it looked like the rest of the desolate and barren ruins of Old Triet.

"Let us proceed," Kratos said at length. "Be wary and prepared for people and beings that should not be here."

The three then descended into the dark crypt. Unlike above ground, the ancient tomb was hot. A dim red glow reflected off of the hallway walls, its source unknown. The light provided did not allow sight beyond approximately ten feet, a fact which vexed Zelos greatly. As he trailed behind Sheena, he could see nothing of her but her dim silhouette. "This is no Altimira," Zelos muttered under his breath. Sheena however, heard the comment and scowled.

"Zelos, shut up."

"What's wrong hunny," he asked sweetly, "did something scare you. Well fear not for the great Zelos is here with you."

Sheena smacked her face and then dragged her palm across her cheek. "Oh please, would you drop the stupid act and be serious for once in your life?"

"Shut up," hissed Kratos, stopping the bickering pair moments before they rounded a corner. "Someone is coming, hide."

"But I don't-" Kratos quickly shoved Zelos into Sheena, sending both tumbling to the ground. They landed in a heap behind a large piece of rubble that had long ago fallen from the ceiling. "Ouch," Zelos whined, rubbing his lightly bruised head. He noticed, much to his enjoyment, that he had landed on top of Sheena and was now staring at her lovely, purple boot sheathed left foot. How he'd gotten into that position was beyond his comprehension, but now that he was here… "Sheena, you have such lovely feet."

"Shh, someone's coming." Zelos quieted and listened. Indeed, there were footsteps echoing down the dark, fire lit hall. And then they appeared, two shadows that held themselves with the dignity born from years of military training. "Where's Kratos?" Sheena whispered to Zelos.

He shrugged. "He shoved me into you and that was the last I saw of him. Which one do you want, left or right?"

"Left," Sheena said, bolting quickly from behind the rubble, Zelos right behind her. However, before either of them could get close enough to attack, the two shadows fell over, revealing another shadow standing behind them, his sword glowing red and orange, blood and reflected fire light.

"Quickly," Kratos said in hushed voice, "this way."

As the Chosen and Summoner approached the bodies, they slowed to a stop. Not because the body and the dead state it was in alarmed them in anyway. No, they dealt death to fellow humans all the time. Of course, these two poor fellows used to be Half-elves, and even that wasn't what fazed them. No, it was the fact that they were staring down at two most certainly dead Half-elf extremists known as Desians.

Sheena stooped down and turned the body around onto its stone cold back. The insignia sewn on the black fabric over the heart of the Half-elf that bought the farm was not one that belonged to any of the Desian factions that the Renegades had showed them. "What are Desians doing here?"

* * *

- - - Hyrule - - -

Four cloaked figures quickly sprinted along the cobble stone courtyard of the former Hyrule Market, the only sound they made being that of their cloaks flapping madly, and very quietly, in the wind. Formerly bustling, even at this midnight hour, the Market now laid empty save for the frequent Angel sentry making its rounds. The Temple of the Goddesses that once played host to the multitudes come to trade, now played host to the Angelic invaders. Where priests were once housed, prisoners now resided. Where parishioners prayed, soldiers were barracked.

The lead member of the small group infiltrating the Temple signaled to his comrades behind him with a quick hand sign. All four of them immediately melted into the shadows and disappeared. Seconds later, two Angels flew by, making their rounds. Yet, even their super enhanced sight was unable to pick up the shadow enshrouded Sheikah.

Once the Angels had flown away, the leader signaled again, and the four shadows sprinted forward once more. The group had to hide themselves fifteen times more before they reached their objective, a slight crevice in the jagged, rocky, mountain wall that the Temple was carved into.

On the other side of the crevice path was treacherous and tight as a ravine opened up to the left of the very thin path. Any misplaced steps would result in assured death. The possibility of death, however, did not have much, if any effect on these trained warriors. They stepped quickly and quietly along the hidden mountain path with sure feet and quiet confidence.

After moving down the hidden path for about ten minutes, the leader stopped and started searching around the wall. Finding a small notch, a carving in the wall, he pulled a golden bird talisman out from his back waist pouch and gently pushed it into the mountain wall until he heard a click. Suddenly, and surprisingly, very quietly, the rock wall a short length ahead slid up and open to reveal a darkened passage way.

The four Sheikah quickly made their way into the secret passage way. A few moments after the group entered, the stone slab slid back down, closing the passage. The golden bird talisman dropped from the wall onto the path, forgotten.

- - - Elsewhere - - -

"Uhmm… Miss Colette?" Colette turned her head to look at Rutina questioningly. "If you don't mind me asking, why did the Angels lock you up?"

"Please," Colette sighed, "just Colette. And I'm not sure why they locked me up. They're supposed to be helping me and working against the Desians. Instead they've locked me up and are working with the Desians."

"People only get locked up because they're captors are too weak to kill them," said Ubella.

Colin snorted. "Not everyone is barbaric like the Gerudo," he said.

"I do not think fighting at this time would be wise," said Rath. When the Gerudo and Hylian looked at him for further explanation, they found him staring at the wall. But they knew why. They'd all stared at it for a long time. Ganondorf lay on the other side.

"So, why did the Angels lock one of their own up," asked Colin, steering the conversation back to Rutina's question.

"What do you mean, 'one of their own' " asked Colette. "I'm not an Angel… At least, not yet."

"So, you're not one of them then?" asked Colin. "Then why do you have wings?"

"I have wings because I'm the Chosen One. I become an Angel after I go on a journey to regenerate the world and save it from the Desians. But the only thing that seems to have gone according to plan was the becoming an Angel part."

"I see," said Colin. "So you're not an Angel yet, but you're going to become one. And the Angels are supposed to be good guys, but they're working with the bad guys, err, you called them, Desians?" Colette nodded.

"None of that makes any sense," complained Ubella. "Either you're good, or you're bad, take you're pick."

"That's what I thought," said Colette, "But then this happened. I'm as confused as you are."

For several minutes they all fell silent. All was silent. Rath stood up and moved to the bars.

"We have to get out of here," he said under his breath. He was pacing the room now with one eye kept on the wall they shared with Ganondorf the whole time. "It can't be good if these guys can defeat and imprison the King of Evil. If they could do that, what else can they do?"

"I'm not afraid," said Ubella. "There isn't anything these weaklings could do that could scare me."

"I'm with Rath, I want to get out of here," said Rutina.

"But how are we going to get out of here?" asked Colin incredulously. "The bars are made out of steel. The locks are as well. We don't have anything in here to work with besides dead rat bones and that rotting body over there." All the occupants turned and looked at said corpse. As if responding to the sudden attention, the corpse slumped slightly as more pieces of it fell to the cell floor.

They all fell silent again, contemplating their fate and trying to figure out if there was a way to escape. They didn't have long to think, because the Desian Warden, what they all came to call the tall, muscular, and intimidating Desian guard, appeared at the front of the cell. He was obviously upset, which made his face all the more ugly.

The guard stared at them for several minutes, contemplating something that made his face scrunch up in anger more and more as the wait dragged on. Finally, the large man smiled cruelly, brought his hands together, and popped his knuckles. The cracking and popping noises that emitted from his large meaty hands sounded like someone's spine and neck being crushed by a steamroller.

"It's time you inferior beings did some manual labor," said the Desian. "And today we're going to start with something light and easy. All the bodies left over from when the inferior beings were killed are still lying everywhere. You will be dragging them piece by piece to a pit, which…" the Desian paused to chuckled loudly at a joke that only he found amusing, "… a pit which you'll also have to dig."

The Desian chuckled again and unlocked the door. It swung open with a whining screech and slammed into the stone wall dividing their cell from Ganondorf's. Arrogantly, the Desian walked into the cell, grabbed Rath, and shoved him out the door. The boy stumbled and fell to the hallway floor. Colin quickly joined him on the floor as the Desian threw him out. Rutina didn't have to be thrown out. She fearfully skirted the large man and stood next to Rath and Colin, both of whom were standing back up.

Then the guard came to Ubella, who had her arms crossed, her foot out, a sneer on her face, and a deadly look in her eye. Her entire attitude cried out tauntingly. The Desian walked up to the Gerudo and stood so close that she nearly fainted from his bad breath. The burly guard stood over the girl half his size, bulking and pushing out his muscles, grimacing, and doing all he could to intimidate her. Yet, for all his fanfare and arrogance, Ubella did nothing but stand there defiantly, glaring back at the guard.

The Desian, having had enough of this, grabbed Ubella by the neck with one hand and raised her into the air. He then started squeezing his hand shut, and in doing so, also started shutting off Ubella's air supply. Ubella struggled wildly, pulling at the Desian's large hand in an attempt to get air. Her actions became more and more frantic. Then, slowly, Ubella stopped moving.

Colette watched this, wanting with every fiber of her body to get up and strangle the man. Thinking quickly, she looked around her immediate area for something that she could throw at the man and spotted a bone in the pile of rat bones that looked almost exactly like a dagger, an extremely small dagger, but a dagger nonetheless. She reached out and grabbed the bone and then quickly flung it at the Desian.

The knife flew straight and true, embedding itself within the arm holding Ubella in the air. The Desian shouted out in pain and quickly dropped Ubella, who immediately began coughing and choking as her lungs once more filled with air.

The Desian pulled the bone out of his arm and threw it down onto the floor. Then he turned toward Colette with murder in his eyes. He started to move toward her, but didn't make it far before Colin jumped onto his back and started to try to choke him. The Desian's neck though was very thick and thus, all Colin accomplished before being thrown into a wall was making him angrier. Rath was next, attempting to knock the large man's feet out from under him by delivering a kick to the back of his knees.

The attack didn't work. The Desian swung around and knocked the boy off his feet, clocking him in the side of the head with his large fist. With Rutina frightened and shivering in a corner, the Desian deemed the fight knocked out of them. He then turned back toward Colette, who stood up to face him.

As soon as the large man got close enough, he grabbed Colette the same way he'd grabbed Ubella, lifting her into the air and squeezing. Like Ubella, Colette was writhing about as her air was cut off. Her lungs burning, her body instinctively reacted to the threat and lashed out with her leg.

Her foot sailed through the air with a loud 'vwhoosh'. It impacted between the Desian's legs and made a sound like cross between wood cracking and the sound meat makes when being tenderized. The chain that used to be restraining the leg had snapped like it was made out of clay.

The Desian's face slowly turned a darker and darker shade of red and his eyes were bulging farther and farther out of his head. The air in his lungs quickly excavated and his grip on Colette quickly lessened to the point that she could pry herself loose. Once she was on the ground, she massaged her neck and then did the first thing that she thought of, she punched the Desian in the gut, and did so powerfully enough to lifted the large man off the ground and throw him through the air, out the door, and into the hallway wall.

"Wow," remarked Colin. "If you could do that this whole time, why didn't you break out sooner?"

"I… I didn't know I could do that," said Colette breathlessly, "must come with the wings."

"Hey," shouted Ubella from the other side of the bars. "I thought you weaklings wanted to escape." She held her hand out expectantly. "Well… you coming?"

After several seconds of staring they all quickly made their way out of the cell. Rutina even built up enough courage to bop the unconscious Desian guard on the head, for good measure, she said.

* * *

- - - Elsewhere - - -

The four Sheikah, now disguised in Desian uniforms, walked calmly past a patrol of real Desians and Angels. They headed straight toward the round platform set up in the middle of the Main Hall of the Temple. Every few minutes, the machines around the platform would activate and then more Angels and Desians would appear on the plat form with boxes of equipment and supplies. The supplies were then unloaded and taken to their intended destination.

Once the disguised Sheikah made it to the plat form they discreetly dropped explosive charges all around the platform in positions that they would not be noticeable. Once the drop was made, the four continued on their way across the room toward the large hallway that led to the barracks.

After passing the Barracks and heading toward the back hallway, the leader of the group slowed down. He checked all of his surrounding and then frowned behind the Desian visor he was wearing. Then there was a loud boom as the explosives detonated. The leader of the Sheikah group moved on, past the frantic Angels and Desians, now with a smile on his face.

They turned left down the hallway, away from the prison cells below, and made their way quickly down the hallway toward the stairs that would lead to the offices and administrative quarters above. Before the Angels had invaded, the head priest and his servants lived above, while the lower priests lived in the newly created dungeons.

Upon cresting the top of the stairwell, the four Sheikah strode purposely down the hallway and into the former head priest's room. Inside were many Desians and Angels frantically running about, stopping to at one computer workstation for several seconds before moving to another in a mad rush to figure out what had happened.

The lead Sheikah made a motion that only his compatriots would notice and started moving about the room, attempting to blend in and look busy. The other Sheikah did the same and before long they were blending into the scene perfectly while confiscating as much intel as they could. Unfortunately, they were unfamiliar with how to operate the machines properly and so did not achieve much. However, whatever paper they could find, they stashed into their pockets and moved on as if nothing were wrong.

Suddenly another alarm went off and a loud, blaring voice begin emitting from thin air saying, "Warning! Intruder Alert! Warning!"

The Sheikah looked around nervously, wondering just how their disguises had been compromised. The entire room suddenly came to a halt as every Angel and Desian turned and saluted or bowed toward the green haired woman who floated into the room. She looked out of the crowd, staring at each and every one of the people in the room menacingly. When her gaze fell upon the Sheikah leader, he froze, not wanting to raise any suspicion. Luckily, she moved her gaze onto someone else quickly.

Unluckily, that other person was another of his Sheikah infiltration group, and this one had an itchy needle throwing habit. So when Pronyma turned her gaze upon him, he almost immediately broke cover and flung thirty needles at her. The needles sailed through the air and bounced harmlessly off of her personal Mana shield.

For a moment, nobody moved, all those present too stunned to process what had happened. Then, quick as a flash, the four Sheikah leaped backwards and dropped their disguises, landing in grouped together with their backs against the wall. Pronyma smirked at her good fortune.

"Found you," she said. Then she lifted her arm and pointed at the four Sheikah and said, "Get them!" All the Angels and Desians in the room turned and charged blindly at the infiltrators. With a single command, the leader sent his men running along the walls over the heads of the small army contained inside of the room while he flipped over their heads and bolted out of the door.

The four Sheikah made it down the stairs, out of the hallway, passed the barracks, and into the Main Hall. There they were confronted and stopped by a large number of Desians and Angels, all of whom seemed to fill the sky and blocked any and all escape.

"Now, now," chided Pronyma as one would to a misbehaving child. "No need for any of that. We're only going to rip your hearts out."

Seeing no other alternative, the leader signaled to his men. They all slumped their shoulders in defeat and moved as if to turn themselves over. Just as a group of Desians moved to capture them though, the four moved as one and lashed out, outright killing ten men with one blow each.

"Kill them," an enraged Pronyma shouted.

The four Sheikah bolted once more, only this time, instead of running away, they ran toward the enemy. Within moments there was a trail of dead bodies leading toward the wide open grand entrance. However the Sheikah weren't made for this kind of fighting. They were assassins, not knights. With overwhelming numbers at their disposal, the Angels and Desians wore the Sheikah infiltrators down until they could capture them all.

By this time, the majority of their numbers had been killed, but enough remained to apprehend the beaten Sheikah. Pronyma floated up to the four men as the Angels holding them forced their tired bodies to kneel. Behind them, the sun was just cresting over the hills in the distance, shining directly into the temple's Main Hall.

"This land is very lush and full of life. It's now ours," Pronyma said to her new prisoners.

"This land will never be yours," rasped the lead Sheikah in a high falsetto voice. "It belongs to the Goddesses and they'll never give it up."

"Don't think so highly of yourselves," Pronyma tutted. "Now, you are going to tell me where you're base is or you'll watch your friends here die." The Sheikah leader glared defiantly up at Pronyma but remained silent. "Suit yourself." She turned to one of the Angels and ordered him to kill his captive. Without a word, the Angel unsheathed its sword and ran the Sheikah through. The young man fell to the ground in an expanding pool of his own blood.

"Are you ready to talk now?" Again, the leader remained silent and defiant. Hatred now laced his blood red glare. "Alright, you, kill yours"

Another Angel killed his captive and dropped him next to his dead comrade. Their blood mixed on the stone floor of the Temple. Again Pronyma turned toward the leader and looked at him questioningly. The leader spit at Pronyma, but the saliva didn't make it very far. Pronyma shrugged and nodded toward the Angel holding the third Sheikah.

Moments later, the leader was the only one left alive from the infiltration group. His blood boiled and yet he did nothing but glare, ready to take his secrets to the grave, just like his comrades. Pronyma, with a disappointed pout, nodded toward the last Angel. The leader closed his eyes in preparation for the strike to come.

When nothing happened, he cracked them open again to find Pronyma on the ground in front of him and a young girl with glowing pink wings pulling him up. The girl quickly flew into the air, dragging him out of the Temple and into the desolated Marketplace with the Angels and Desians hot on their tail.

* * *

Well, that's the end of that part.

**Link**: "Wow, it took you forever to update."

I know, but like I said, I've been busy. But I finally managed to get things into order so now maybe I can write more often that I could have before.

**Link**: "Well… whatever. And hey, why wasn't I in this chapter?"

Don't worry, you'll be in the next one.

**Link**: "Ugh… fine. Please review readers."

And thanks for reading.


	11. Triet Ruins Part One

Link! Name the reviewers!

**Link**: "Okay, okay! Geez… _**mandrakefunnyjuice**_,_**Jenova Remnant AKA Fishie**_, _**Amekoryuu**_,_**freakyanimegal456**_, _**Canada Cowboy**_,_**Rini Tsukino**_, and _**frostneko**_ reviewed."

And a deep round of thanks are due to them.

**Link**: "Thank you!

Disclaimer time…

**Link**: (Sigh) "I.K.A. Valian doesn't own Zelda or Tales of Symphonia. Unfortunately, he does own me and all the plot changes/originality."

On with the story.

* * *

Last chapter focused heavily on events taking place in Hyrule where the armies of Mithos Yggdrasill, possessed by the Sorcerer Agahnim, run amok. This chapter moves the focus back to Sylvarant where we find our wayward hero in green traveling south toward the Triet Desert.

- - - Sylvarant - - -

"Professor, how long do you think it will take to get back to the desert?" Lloyd shouted over the roar of the wind rushing past the Rheound. Raine, once again in the driver's seat, calmly drove the vehicle around obstacles at speeds that she had no right being calm at.

"It shouldn't be much longer," she shouted back, her shoulder length silver-white hair writhing wildly in the wind. Lloyd, holding on for dear life, fell back into his seat between Genis and Link with a groan.

Princess Zelda, in the front passenger seat once more, was pressing on the side of her head and gripping the door so tightly that her knuckles turned white. A small groan from the blond caused Link to lean forward between the two front seats and look at her with a look of concern.

She waved him off, saying, "I've just got a headache from all the excess motion. It is nothing to concern yourself about."

"If you say so, Princess," Link responded dubiously.

The group sped along in the darkness, using barely visible landmarks to guide them to the desert. In the desert, within the crypt that housed the Seal of Fire, Kratos led Sheena and Zelos down a dark, fire lit hallway.

Silently and quickly, the trio sprinted down the decrepit and overly warm stretches, taking out Desians as they showed up. When asked, even Kratos didn't know why these particular Desians were left behind nor did he know what they were doing inside of this crypt. Finally, they came to a stone archway glowing brightly from the other side with red orange fire light.

Kratos motioned for the two behind him to wait while he peeked around the corner into the next room. Inside of this next room, the floor literally glowed slightly, the stone heated to the point of illumination by the white hot magma flowing by like a river below. The entire center of the room floated like an island on top of this flow of liquid stone. The heat was so intense that the air warped everywhere one could look, making it look like the air was alive, dancing and writhing about like a translucent snake pit.

Looking through the fire hot air, Kratos could make out several groupings of Desians within the room. Many were crowded near the highest platform where a glowing blue warp pad sat, while the rest were stationed along the broken and deteriorated path that lead up to the warp pad. With a groan, Kratos pulled back and leaned against the wall. This wasn't going to be easy.

"How can they stand that heat?" asked Zelos. "It looks like they should be roast Desian by now."

"They are using a magical artifact called the Elemental Pendant. Used in conjunction with an elemental crystal, such as the Blue Quarts, one could weather even the hottest of deserts. The problem is that Elemental Pendants are extremely hard to produce." Sheena and Zelos' mind boggled at Kratos quick explanation.

"Maybe one of the Desians we ran into back there had some of these Elemental Pendants," suggested Zelos. "Let's go back and get some so we can get in there without cooking alive."

"There's not enough time," Kratos said impatiently. "Just wait here, I'll be back."

"What!" shouted Sheena. "Wait, Kratos!" But it was too late, he'd already ducked into the boiling hot room. They tried to look in, but the extreme heat caused their eyes to water to the point that they couldn't see, their mouths to dry out, and their faces to become so warm that they burned. From the few seconds of exposure to the room that they did have, Sheena came away with a nice new tan and Zelos' hair was on fire.

"Ouch, ouch!" he shouted, panicking and hopping about the small area they stood in. "My hair's on fire! My hair's on fire! I can feel it dying!"

"Oh pipe down, you big baby," Sheena admonished. She reached out and squished the small flame between two fingers. "There, see all gone."

"Oh thank you!" Zelos went to hug Sheena, but she side stepped and Zelos smacked face first into the wall. "Thank you very much," he squawked

"Not a problem," Sheena said with a satisfied smirk on her face.

"We have a problem." Both Sheena and Zelos turned to face Kratos as he reappeared from the doorway with not a hair singed.

"But… How…" stuttered Sheena.

"The warp pad, though activated, has been locked from the other side," Kratos explained. "There is no way to get to Efreet from this room unless whoever locked the warp pad decides to come back. According to the Desians in there, that is unlikely."

"Whoa," said Zelos, putting his hands up, "Slow down there big guy. First, how did you even go into that room, we can barely stand to look in? Second, why would those Desians tell you anything without killing you?"

"You're questions will have to wait for another time," Kratos said, quickly moving back the way they'd come. "I know of another route to Efreet's cavern. That is the route we'll take."

"I thought that was the only route," Sheena said, her features reflecting her confusion. "Where's this other route and why didn't we know about it?"

"The secondary route is going to take exceptionally longer to travel and hasn't been used for an extremely long time," said Kratos. "However, the path should still be clear enough to travel. Here, wear these." The mercenary threw two necklaces at the people behind him. They caught them and looked them over. The chains were made of a silver-like substance and the pendants attached to them had blue quartz wedged in. "They didn't need those anymore. You'll need them for the journey through the magma chamber."

"What about the guy who locked the warp pad?" asked Sheena.

"I've taken care of it," Kratos said grimly. Still confused, but out of questions, Zelos and Sheena followed Kratos deep into the dark depths of the ruined crypt.

Meanwhile, on the sands above, Raine was driving wildly over the sand dunes. Behind the speeding vehicle were hundreds of scorpions and snakes that were somehow able to keep up with the vehicle, though Genis mentioned something about feeling an odd Mana signature about them.

"Professor," shouted Lloyd, "They're gaining!"

"Take this, Fireball!" shouted Genis. He thrust his Kendama wielding hand at the wave of creatures chasing them, releasing the fire Mana stored up inside of the toy as four white hot balls of fire. The magic balls flew through the air with a high pitched whine and hit several of the creatures, taking them out immediately. But before Genis' and Link's very eyes' the monsters were quickly replaced with twice as many.

"Sis," said Genis, "this doesn't look good. Twice as many replace what I take out and they're still gaining."

"Zelda," Raine shouted as the Rheound started up the side of a particularly large sand dune. "Zelda, do you have any spells that might be of help to us?" Zelda, clutching her stomach, turned slowly to look at Raine like she'd grown two red horns and a tail. Just then the vehicle left the sand as it vaulted off of the crest of the sand dune.

They sailed through the air for several long seconds during which a great majority of the monsters chasing them fell down the steep side of the dune. This proved to be their undoing as they began piling on top of one another and soon began crushing the poor creatures on the bottom.

When the Rheound landed, it bounced a few times in the considerably flatter terrain and took off again, this time with much less monsters following it. Zelda, who turned a light shade of green mid-flight, leaned over the side of her door and started retching. Some of the monsters slipped in the results and were trampled by their brethren.

"Way to go Princess!" shouted Lloyd, "you got some of 'em!"

"Ugh," moaned the Princess.

"Oh my Goddess!" shouted Raine! She slammed on to the brakes, barely managing to avoid hitting the three Rheairds parked just outside the desert ruins. Lloyd, having been standing up, was thrown out of the vehicle, into, and through the wall of a decrepit old building.

"Lloyd!" shouted Genis. He jumped out of the Rheound and raced toward the building. Link attempted to follow, but his legs were suddenly pulled out from underneath him. Monsters quickly piled up on top of the young boy.

"Great Spin!" Scorpions and Snakes went flying as Link executed his signature move. Over and over, he spun around slicing into the monsters with wooden sabers. But several seconds later, he slowed to a stop, his feet buried in the sand, a spiral of sand centered around him, and he fell over, too dizzy to even stand.

"Hang on Link," shouted Zelda. She tried to get out of the Rheound, but the moment her feet touched the ground, she too fell, too motion sick.

Suddenly, Lloyd burst from the Lloyd-shaped hole he created, swords swinging. He ran toward Link, slicing monsters left and right. He pushed them back long enough for Link to get his senses back and stand up. Together they retreated back into the city while fending off monsters as Genis and Raine helped Zelda along. Behind them, they watched the monsters attack the Rheound and the Rheairds, destroying anything and everything they could.

Once they were satisfied that they'd 'killed' the machines, they surged after Lloyd and Link. The two boys fought them off as best they could, but they were quickly overwhelmed. The monsters slashed and jabbed the two until blood covered their bodies, though it was fairly hard to tell on Lloyd.

Raine and Genis, burdened by Zelda, were unable to do anything but watch as the monsters incapacitated the two boys just a few feet away. Suddenly, the monsters pulled back into a circle around Link and Lloyd. They managed to sit up, thinking that they'd survived when an enormous black scorpion appeared.

It looked at them for several seconds, let out a screech of rage and with lightning fast agility, stabbed its stinger downward. Lloyd, being the intended target, closed his bloodied eyes. Link did as well, just as he used the last of his strength to push Lloyd out of the way.

The stinger hit and dust flew into the air. Both boys opened their eyes, expecting to be dead, but not. Raine and Genis gasped. Standing in front of the two boys stood a giant eagle. His eyes glowed white as his brown and white feathers fluttered in the desert wind. The Great Eagle opened its beak and screeched loudly at the gargantuan black scorpion.

The scorpion pulled its huge stinger out of the sand and struck at the giant bird. The bird of prey hopped into the air, flapped once with its huge wings, and blew away most of the smaller monsters while at the same time avoiding the stinger. Before the scorpion king could pull its stinger out and attempt another hit, the eagle swooped down again and grabbed the enormous bug in its razor sharp claws, each one about the size of one Rheaird.

Flying up into the air with the black scorpion, the great bird screeched loudly once more before it swept its wings back and dove back toward the ground. Just at the last moment, he flared his wings and pulled up while at the same time he dropped the scorpion onto a half destroyed building that were part of the ruins.

Raine took the opportunity to run up to the boys and started casting as much healing magic as she had in her. Lloyd pulled out several Apple Gels and shared them with Link while Genis helped Zelda to sit down and then handed her a Panacea bottle. She looked at it strangely and then downed it as fast as she could after Genis explained what it did.

"Wow," Lloyd said finally. "That was amazing. I thought I was going to die and then that giant bird monster came out of nowhere and saved us."

"Yeah," agreed Link. "I wonder where it went."

"Bird monsters like that are extremely territorial," explained Genis. "Maybe it thought of that scorpion as competition and so it swooped in and took it out."

"But then what about us?" asked Zelda, now feeling much better.

"Did you see how big it was?" asked Genis. "In all likely hood, we're too small to be considered much of a threat."

"That's good," said Lloyd, "I don't want to have to fight that thing any time soon."

"Come on," Raine suddenly shouted. She took off running down the dusty old street. "There's the ruins!"

"Here we go again," Genis lamented. The others laughed and soon enough Genis did too. They joined Raine, who was standing over the broken entrance to the crypt just as Kratos had not too long before.

"What's wrong Professor?" asked Lloyd.

"I take it that the entrance isn't supposed to be in such a state of destruction," surmised Zelda after a short moment of study.

"Yes," agreed Raine. "It should have been sealed, waiting for the Chosen's touch to open. You can even see that the break in was recent. It must have been whoever was riding on those other contraptions that we saw parked on the outskirts of the ruins."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about those," said Genis. "I was a bit distracted by the monsters."

"I'm going in," said Lloyd bravely. He started forward when a hand grabbed onto his arm and stopped him. He turned his head and looked at Raine curiously.

"Just be careful Lloyd," she said seriously, "There's no telling what could be down there." Lloyd nodded back at his teacher and descended into the crypt, followed by the others in qhick procession.

They made their way down the dark, fire lit halls. After carefully navigating past the fallen rocks, and some how missing the dead bodies, they made it to the doorway that lead into the magma filled room with the locked warp pad.

"Man, I can't believe how hot it is down here," Lloyd complained.

"It's got to be hotter than Death Mountain in here," added Link. Zelda nodded, wiping the sweat off of her forehead.

"Regardless, we haven't found any signs like in the Martel Temple that indicate anything remotely related to the Proto-Triforce," said Raine. She flapped her own shirt, drenched like everyone else's with sweat, in an attempt to cool down.

"Maybe there's one in that room," said Genis, pointing toward the glowing doorway, "but it looks too hot to enter. How are we going to get in?"

Link shrugged and leaned back against the wall in the exact same spot that Zelos' head slammed into earlier. The wall, scorched black by years of heat and pressure, didn't react as it had been designed to. Instead, it simply fell over, taking Link with it to the ground.

"Link!" Lloyd and Genis helped Link shove the large metal plate off of his back and to the side. "Are you alright, Link?" asked Zelda.

"Don't worry about me Princess, I'm much tougher than that," he replied cockily.

"What's that?" asked Raine. She pointed at the object revealed by the metal plate.

"That… is an all seeing eye," Zelda said. "I've seen them in history books but I've never seen one in person until now." The Princess reached out and touched the golden diamond surrounding the wide open eye in the center. "Supposedly they're a key of some kind."

They stood around the eye for several minutes, trying to figure out what it was supposed to do. First Lloyd poked it with his finger, but that didn't work.

"I guess it isn't a real eye, since all real eyes hate being poke by fingers," he explained in his simple way.

"Lloyd," sighed Genis, "not everything works on the level of a two year old."

"What's that supposed to mean," the older boy shot back.

"Actually Genis," said Raine, "I think he's right. Lloyd, stab the eye with your sword."

"See Genis," taunted Lloyd, sticking his tough out. Lloyd then turned around, unsheathed his sword, and stabbed it into the eye. Nothing happened.

"See Lloyd," Genis taunted back. Lloyd sagged his shoulders as he started to sulk. He pulled his sword from the eye and put it back in its sheath. Then he turned and walked away slowly, completely missing the eye suddenly shutting its eyelid and the heat radiating from the next room disappearing. "Lloyd…"

"Yeah, yeah, Genis, I know, you're always right."

"Lloyd!" Lloyd turned and saw only Raine standing there. "Are you coming?" she asked, pointing toward the darkened doorway.

"Wha- I was right!" Lloyd ran into the next room laughing. "Haha, I was right Genis. Take that!"

"Yeah, yeah," said Genis, rolling his eyes. "I guess there's a first time for everything."

"Hey, I think we've found it," shouted Zelda.

Everyone crowded around the Princess as she studied the blackened wall on the opposite side of the room. Link reached out to rub some of the soot off. When his hand touched the wall, the strange Triforce like symbol that appeared in the Martel Temple lit up. They all stepped back as the wall began fading to reveal another tunnel that lead deeper into the crypt.

"I guess this is the next resting place of a piece of the Proto-Triforce," said Raine.

"Alright!" shouted Lloyd, "Let's go get that Triforce!"

"Always excited in the beginning," said Genis as he followed Lloyd.

"At last," cackled Raine under her breath, "more of these mysterious ruins! And they're all mine! Mwahahahahahahahaaa!"

And yet again, as they left the warp pad room, they missed the dead bodies strewn everywhere and the sword sticking out of the warp pad itself, the device still sparking.

Well, there wasn't much plot twisting in this one, but just wait till the next one when it's revealed who locked the warp pad. And what will Link and the other find in this second dungeon inside of Sylvarant…

**Link**: "Well?"

Only time will tell…

**Link**: "Oh right, nice of you to leave everyone hanging."

Thanks. Please review!

**Link**: "And thanks for reading!"


	12. Triet Ruins Part Two

Those who reviewed:_**mandrakefunnyjuice**_, _**freakyanimegal456**_,_**Rini Tsukino**_, _**Jenova Remnant AKA Fishie**_, _**Amekoryuu**_, and _**Canada Cowboy**_; thanks a bunch.

**Link**: "Thank you!"

Coming up: the continuation of the situation brewing inside of the Fire Seal. But first, Link's going to say the disclaimer.

**Link**: "Always with the disclaimer. I.K.A. Valian doesn't own Zelda or Tales of Symphonia."

* * *

- - - Hyrule - - -

The excitement of hours earlier had passed with the swiftness of an unladen Swallow. The ruined Market being what it was, it was fairly easy for Colette to disappear in the early morning shadows. By the time the Angels and Desians gave up searching several hours later, Colette, the kids, and the Sheikah were miles away.

They stopped at a stream that cut into the countryside, resting and drinking. Colette sat on a rock, going over the events of the morning. The Sheikah, the only thing that she could get the man to tell her about him, had remained fairly silent and distant the entire time. He kept to himself, which didn't bother her any since she'd had enough adventure as it was already.

She looked up, getting bored of staring at the springy green grass, and watched Colin and Rutina play in the water. As far as streams go, this one was deep enough for the water to go up to one's waist and so clear that you could see the rocks on the bottom as clearly as if they'd been sitting on the shore.

Colette turned her head to the left and found that Sheikah again. He was quietly leaning against a tree. It took her a few seconds to realize that Rath was sitting on the other side of the mysterious man. They weren't talking, just sitting there with their eyes closed. She shook her head, knowing that it was probably best left alone. A sudden whacking drew her attention to her right.

There, Colette saw Ubella, whacking away at a hapless sapling with a log. With a series of yips and cries of rage, Ubella flipped into the air and brought the log down on the poor adolescent tree, snapping it in half from the brute force.

"Hey, what'd you do that for?" shouted Rutina. She dove under the water and several seconds later erupted back out, landing neatly on the shore with practiced ease. "That tree didn't do anything to you!"

"What's it to you, fish-face?!" growled Ubella.

Rutina stopped in her tracks, as if hitting a barrier. "I… I… I was j-just…" she stuttered.

"Yeah, that's what I thought, freak."

"Hey!" shouted Colin, stepping in front of Rutina, still dripping from the stream. "Don't shout at her!"

"Do you want me to shout at you then, Stupaka?" Ubella shot back vehemently. A piercing whistle cut through the air, followed by a thud. Ubella looked down at the log in her hand, and then at the small, slender kunai knife sticking out of it. Colette followed the trail of the knife back to the mysterious Sheikah, who sat calmly in the same position he'd been in before.

_He wasn't even looking when he threw that knife,_ Colette realized._Even I'm not that good._

"That word will never again pass your lips," said the man in his falsetto voice, turning and leveling a steady stare at the Gerudo, "or it will be the last thing you say."

Ubella, though just threatened with her mortality by a highly trained assassin, snorted indignantly. "Do you think I fear you, Sheikah?" she asked haughtily.

The Sheikah continued staring at the Gerudo, not even in the least intimidated by the little girl trying to fill her heritage's oversized shoes. Colette looked back and forth between the two, startled by the sudden hostility.

Standing up, she cleared her throat and said, "Well, wasn't that fun." She walked forward a few feet, feeling the grass part outside her particularly comfortable boots. "What are all of you going to do now that you're free?"

"I'm going to go looking for my parents," Rutina said very quickly, happy to have a change of subject. "I don't know where to look for them though, so… the only place I can go is back to the Zora Domain."

"Zora Domain has been destroyed," the Sheikah said flatly. "All the survivors are headed toward Hyrule Castle. For some reason the King of Evil has disappeared and the Invaders don't seem all that interested in it. You four should head there."

"But there's five of us," said Colin.

"Would you really bring one of the enemies back with you?" asked the Sheikah. "Even if you four have some sort of loyalty toward her, others would certainly put all the blame of recent events onto her and kill her."

_He's talking about me,_ Colette realized. "I wouldn't hurt anyone… at least, not until they hurt me or my friends."

"That doesn't matter," said Rath, jumping into the conversation. "When people are living in a state of panic, they'll blame anything and everything if it will make their lives easier. It's sad that group mentality like that exists, but it does."

"Yeah," Colette said, sighing. "I guess you're right. You know, you remind me of one of my friends back home. He's really smart too." Rath coughed into his hand, trying to hide his smirk.

"Couldn't you just hide the fact that you're an Angel?" Colette turned toward Ubella, her eyes widening in slight shock from the actual concern in the Gerudo's voice. Ubella looked almost shocked at herself, but she quickly composed a look of contempt on her face. But she didn't retract her idea, leaving it out to stew.

"I guess I could," Colette said. "I mean it's not like I don't appear human right now, is it?"

"What is it you plan to do once you get there?" asked the Sheikah.

"I want to look for my parents," said Rutina. "They might have gotten away from the Angels."

"I'm going to see if my parents are there too," said Colin. "I also have an uncle who lives there, so I know I can stay there."

"Hmph," Ubella huffed, "I'm just going to get some steel. A Gerudo can't survive in the desert without it."

"I've got friends I can stay with," Rath said.

"I want to try and find a way to fight Cruxis and the Desians," Colette said, "and then maybe find a way home."

"Hmm." The Sheikah stood up and dusted himself off. "If that is your intent then I will take my leave of you here. I assume one of you knows how to get there from where we are." Both Colin and Rath nodded. "Good," the Sheikah said, "then farewell."

The Sheikah reached into his back waist pouch, pulled out a small seed, and then threw it at the ground. The seed exploded into a shower of light, blinding the five for less than a second. Once they could see again the Sheikah was gone.

"Not very subtle is he?" asked Rutina. Colin and Colette nodded in agreement.

- - - Sylvarant - - -

They'd be dead soon, so he watched them with great interest.

"Fantastic!" Raine shouted, running toward a wall and then further into the room. "This room is utterly fantastic!"

"Uh, Professor, do you think we could just get the Proto-Triforce and get out of here?" asked Lloyd. "It's really hot down here and we don't have much water left."

"Yes," the silver haired half-elf acquiesced. "I suppose you're right, but first, let me just study this room for a few minutes! It's the most important discovery of all time!" Raine went back to zipping around the room, babbling like a kid in a candy store. This left the rest of them to wander about the large domed room.

Somewhere, high above them, light was shining from an unknown source onto the ceiling. This light, as dim as it was, reflected down onto the ground where they stood and allowed them to see with a healthy amount of squinting.

Lloyd yawned and sat down in the middle of the floor, his eyes slowly lowering until he jerked back awake several seconds later. Genis soon joined him, and before long, they were both out like a light and snoring lightly. This left Zelda and Link as the only two awake, aside from Raine, who still flitted joyfully about the room writing crazily into a notepad she pulled from under her coat.

"Princess, what do you think is happening back in Hyrule?" Link asked.

"I don't know, but I'm sure it can't be good. Actually, I'm embarrassed to admit that I'm… Look out!" Zelda lunged toward Link, grabbed him, and threw him as far as she could. Link barely managed to see a ball of blue light hit the Princess before he slammed into the ground and slid a few feet away. When he looked back he found Zelda encased in a giant diamond. Behind her, another diamond cocooned Genis and Lloyd, and a third a short distance away held Raine, suspended above the ground mid-skip.

"So you managed to escape my attack." Link looked up, toward the ceiling, and saw a strange shadow floating there. A chill went down his spine when he only saw one glowing, red eye.

"What have you done to the Princess?" Link shouted upwards. His voice echoed throughout the tall chamber.

"That doesn't matter, since you'll be joining her soon," said the strange shadow. Oddly enough, his voice did not echo.

"Oh really? I think I'm going to beat you and set her free!" Again, Link's voice echoed loudly throughout the room. The shadow's eye widened, surprise emanating from his lone pupil.

"You… you can hear me? This… this is… You… you must be…" The shadow then disappeared, but his voice remained, wavering in excitement like a man who'd found water in the middle of a desert after suffering dehydration for several days. "I've… I… waited so long. Time lost its meaning while I waited. I… wait still." And then the voice fell silent as well.

Link stood up and looked around the dim room, expecting something to jump out of the shadows, but nothing happened. Satisfied that the threat was gone, Link walked slowly up to the enormous diamond that was holding the princess and pressed his face up against it. Her face was frozen in a grimace of pain.

"I'm sorry, Princess," the boy croaked out. Tears welled in his eyes and a lump formed in his throat as the pain of loss, failure, and a host of similar emotions filled his heart. "I was supposed to protect you and instead you protected me. Some hero I am…" Link slid down the side of the diamond and crumpled into a pile on the ground.

_Link… Don't give up…_

Link looked up quickly, his tears dripping from his chin. "Princess…"

_Link… Fight!_

Link nodded and slowly stood up, wiping his tears on his arm. Then he looked up into the cavern and shouted, "Hey! Release my friends! Now!" But the only response he heard was his own voice. However, as he looked up, he did notice something that he hadn't before. A crystal switch, glowing yellow from within, was embedded in the ceiling. Thinking quickly, he pulled out his boomerang, took aim, and threw the mighty weapon with all his might.

The crooked pieces of metal sailed end over end through the air and completely missed the switch. Instead, the weapon bounced off of the wall and flew straight back toward Link, who had to dodge to the side to avoid having his head lopped off. Link picked up the boomerang and tried again, with the same results. This went on until during his twentieth attempt, the boomerang bounced off of the wall upwards and accidentally hit the switch, turning it a dark purple. Link again had to dodge out of the way as the weapon returned, but when he stood back up, the ground started to shake.

Link looked to the right and a part of the wall crumbled to reveal a dark cave that glowed from within. Link ran up to the cave entrance and then ran back to Zelda. "I'm going to go and see if I can find anything in the cave," he shouted.

_Link… Be careful,_ Zelda said telepathically and he ran and jumped into the cave.

The cave was short and very hot, but it was very straight. Diamonds were sticking out of the walls, ceiling, and floor all over the place. But they didn't impede Link's progress and he eventually came to the end of the cave and was confronted with an even bigger problem, a room almost filled completely with magma. In the center of the room was an island of solid land that had an enormous diamond embedded in it. The diamond was about the same size as the one that encased the Princess. And sitting on top of the diamond was the mono-eyed shadow.

"I've come to a decision," the shadow said. "You must be tested by this dungeon to be worthy of the prize at the end. Also, consider your friends a part of the test, because if you want to save them, you're going to need the sacred item stored deep in this dungeon. If you truly are the one we've waited for, Traveler from afar, then you'll succeed in saving your friends and claiming the piece of power I guard." The shadow jumped into the air and floated there for several seconds. "I should warn you that those diamonds that your friends are encased in will in several hours consume their bodies completely. You don't have much time." And then the shadow vanished.

"Wait," Link shouted. "Where is this sacred item and what does it look like?"

But it was too late, the shadow was gone. _Great,_ Link thought to himself, _now I have to hurry and find this sacred item and then hurry back. I hope this place isn't too big._

Link looked around the room, forcing his eyes to penetrate the heat warped air. On the opposite side of this room appeared to be a door on a ledge cut into the wall. In the corner to his right was another island covered in boulders and in the corner on the other side of the room was another island, without rocks. On his left, on the other side of the room from the island without rocks, was an opening into the wall that magma slowly oozed out from. And just to his right on the outcropping of land he stood on, was another yellow crystal switch.

Link whipped out his sword and slashed at the crystal. The gem reverberated, and like a tuning fork, produced a low tone. Then the light from inside of the crystal changed from yellow to dark purple and a loud whooshing sound filled the room. Link turned and watched the magma drain quickly from the room until a string of stepping stones appeared. Once the magma had cleared those, it stopped draining and a loud ticking filled the room like that of a clock from hell, someplace Link guessed was not that far from here.

Link counted in his head and watched as the timer stopped ticking twenty seconds later. Faster than it had drained, the magma rose back to its previous level. _Okay,_ Link thought, _I have twenty seconds to run across all of those stepping stones to get to the other side of the room. This should be fun._

Slashing the crystal again, Link ran to the opposite edge of the outcropping and waited until the magma had drained far enough for him to start. Once the first stepping stone appeared, he jumped out. What he didn't expect was for the stone to start sinking the moment he landed. Like a panicked rabbit evading a ravenous wolf, Link hopped from stone to stone as fast as he could. Sadly, he'd only made it half way when twenty seconds had passed.

Running on suicidal instinct, Link jumped from the stone he was on directly into the tunnel that the magma oozed from just as the timer stopped. He ran as fast as he could away from the quickly rising white hot magma. He made it to the end of the short hallway and found that there were large depressions carved into the back wall, as if stair had been planned but never fully completed. Climbing as quickly as he could, Link made it to the top of the wall just in time to prevent becoming roasted Hylian. He could smell his thick, and now thoroughly burnt, leather boots cooking the entire time.

Climbing to his feet with a resigned grunt, because time was of the essence, Link turned from the magma pool and moved deeper into this unseen and much darker tunnel.

- - - Elsewhere - - -

"Wow, I never knew tunnels like these existed." Sheena walked steadily behind Zelos. He'd earlier tried to grab her in an inappropriate place. After several hard beatings by Sheena, Kratos had separated them and made clear in no uncertain terms that he'd have no trouble tying them together and dangling them both over a bubbling pit of magma. Since then, they'd both been fairly quiet.

"These tunnels look hand carved," Zelos observed, "How did people get down here to carve them out if it's so hot?"

"This place wasn't always as it is now," Kratos said. "Thousands of years ago, it wasn't even a desert. The city above used to be a major religious center for the Balacruf Kingdom before it fell apart. After Efreet lost control of his powers, the city was laid to waste, the desert formed, and these tunnels became too hot to live in."

"Wow, how do you know so much, old man?" Zelos asked Kratos. Kratos didn't answer. "Ohh, all quiet now. Don't like being called old man then do ya?" This time Kratos did respond.

"If you insist on being an annoyance, I will remove the offending muscle which allows you to speak." Kratos let that sink in for a few seconds before he continued. "After all, you don't require a tongue to open the seals." Zelos quickly stopped talking. "That's better."

"How much longer until we reach the Efreet's Chamber?" Sheena asked.

"We must travel for a few more hours until we reach our destination. This tunnel will take us most of the way there, however, I'm sure there'll be some cave-ins that will have to be circumvented."

"What makes you so sure," asked Zelos. Just then, they rounded a corner in the tunnel and came face to face with a wall of rocks, boulders, and pebbles. "Oh…"

"This isn't good," Sheena said, voicing the obvious.

"The ceiling here is unstable at best," said Kratos. He moved toward the pile of rocks, tugging on his gloves to tighten their fit on his hands. "Do your best not to disturb it as you remove debris."

"Oh joy," said Zelos, "manual labor. My favorite. I am going to need at least ten showers and baths to clean myself after this. Why oh why does this happen to poor little old me."

"Zelos, just shut up and work," Sheena grunted as she heaved a boulder away from the cave in.

"Anything for you, babe," Zelos sang, hopping and skipping toward the rock piles with all the excitement of a five year old. Sheena groaned in annoyance.

- - - Elsewhere - - -

Link clutched the small silvery key tightly to his chest as he crawled. He had scrapes and bruises all over his body, as well as a fair amount of burns. Not to mention one of his eyebrows was now half singed off.

That dark room hadn't stayed dark for long. More Keese than he could count dropped from the ceiling and spontaneously combusted. As one giant, living, coordinated flying swath of fire, they all attacked him. That though wasn't the half of it. As he did his best to dodge all the swooping fire-enshrouded bats, he kept tripping over slugs that were also on fire. Needless to say, it took more than a few minutes to take them all out. Finally, after an arduous battle, he'd defeated them all and retrieved the small key he now held tightly in his grimy hand from a treasure chest.

When he looked for a way to exit, he found no way of making the magma retreat again. He did, however, find a small tunnel that he barely fit into. After what felt like an eternity of scrunching up and stretching out, Link's head popped out of a hole. The hole sat in the center of the wall that was conveniently part of the niche that held the door he'd tried to get to in the first place.

Link fell to the ground and caught his breath. His lips were cracked and his throat was raw from all the heat given off by the magma. He took a drink from his canteen in an attempt to ward off the soreness.

"_Hey Link, aren't you thirsty?" They'd stopped for a drink of water at a stream while traveling toward Iselia. Link had just joined up with Lloyd and was still getting used to the new environment._

_Link looked at Lloyd and nodded his head. Then he held up his hands showing that he didn't have any kind of container to put water in. Lloyd saw this and thought for a few seconds. Then the red clad boy threw his own canteen at Link._

"_Here, you can have mind. Don't worry, I'm sure I can get Genis to buy me another one."_

"_Are you sure," asked Link._

"_Yeah, don't worry about it."_

Deciding that drinking all the water at once was a bad idea, Link reluctantly closed the canteen and stood up. He stepped up to the door, fingering the key he hand, and looked the locked entrance over. There were four bars extending from the walls, ceiling, and floor respectively to meet at the center of the door where a blocky square lock mechanism sat. Link looked down at the key in his hand and shrugged.

He lifted the key, shoved it into the keyhole, and turned it. The mechanism at the center glowed for a bit and then fell to the ground with a thud. The four bars slunk back into stone surrounding the door, making a grinding sound the entire time. Finally, the large stone door slid upwards into the ceiling, revealing another dark tunnel. Cool air flowed quickly out of the tunnel as the pressure equalized.

Nodding to himself once, Link moved forward into the new tunnel. This tunnel, unlike the first one, was more curved and only smaller diamond formations showed up. Still, it was much cooler than in that last room, something Link was very grateful for. The tunnel ended not long after it began and Link was confronted with another, much more confusing circular room.

Unlike what he'd seen up until now, this room was completely covered in ice, from floor to ceiling. All around the walls, torches were set up, making the room look more like a slip'n'slide arena than a room. There was a diamond or two sticking out of the ice, but other than those, there was nothing but the smooth as silk ice. On the opposite side of the room was another tunnel and to the left, one more.

Carefully walking into the room so that he didn't slip, Link moved on. When he was at about the center of the room, the ice rumbled slightly and then with a loud whoosh, the entrance to the cave he'd just come from was blocked off by a stone door that slid down faster than the eye could see. The tunnel in front of him did the same, as well as the tunnel to his left. He was now trapped in this room of ice.

Before he could do anything though, a loud thud and the sound of ice cracking drew Link's attention toward his right, where a giant armor clad lizard had appeared. The Lizalfo bent forward and thrust its head toward Link. It opened its mouth, revealing a set of very sharp small teeth made just for rending flesh, and loosed its primal roar.

Link, having no time to think, fell to the ground just as fire erupted from the beast's mouth in a plume that would have hit him squarely in the chest. Once the flames died down, Link scrambled to stand back up, but every time he tried, his feet and hands slipped on the ice, freshly melted from the fire breath's heat. The Lizalfo took this as its sign to go in for the kill and jumped into the air.

Sword in claw, the monster put the blade between its legs with the tip pointed downward, intending to dive the blade into Link's skull. Link saw this and got an idea. He pulled one of his swords out and stabbed it into the ice. Then he used that as leverage to sling himself away from the impact zone just at the last moment.

When the creature saw that its quarry had evaded its attack, it roared again, jumped into the air, and attempted to execute the same move again. By this time, Link managed to get back onto his feet and ran out of the way as fast as the slippery surface would let him.

This time the oversized lizard's sword got stuck in the ice. When it finally managed to get it free, Link had retrieved his own sword from the ice and was charging forward. The lizard blocked all of Link's attacks, which weren't very powerful due to the lack of traction, and pushed the boy back with a kick to the chest.

Link, somehow managing to stay on his feet, slid all the way across the room. He came to a stop when he bumped into the wall, which he immediately had to push off from again to avoid becoming shish-ke-bob. Once again, the lizard's sword got stuck in the ice. Link used the small amount of time he gained to try and figure a way of defeating this thing.

_Maybe I should try jumping like that thing does… No, I can't jump that high. Agh! I can't think of anything! There's got to be something!_

Link's feet suddenly fell out from underneath him, tripped up by a diamond sticking out of the ice. Using his sword, he stood back up and then a plan formed in his head. The Lizalfo wrenched its sword from the wall, turned around, and saw Link mooning him. This simple, very childish act infuriated the beast to the point of no return.

It roared and pushed off the wall. Link pulled up his pants, turned around and laughed, only serving to infuriate the beast some more. Like a professional speed skater, the lizard pushed itself faster and faster toward Link, who was now flopping his tongue at him.

At the last moment, just as the lizard was about to crash into Link, the boy pushed off of the diamond that tripped him moments before toward the crazed lizard. Just as they were about to crash into each other, Link dropped to the ice and tripped the monster. The claws on his feet left deep, bloody gashes across Link's torso and right arm as they passed over them.

Link slid to a stop, his torso and arm burning like crazy. He looked down at his wounds and figured that they weren't too serious; at least his main sword arm was still working. With great difficulty, because every labored breath he took caused his wounds to scream out, he stood up and faced the lizard. The monster had fallen straight onto diamond face first, making it very dead.

"I do not want to do that again," Link said aloud. The stone doors that once trapped him inside of the room had retracted, leaving him two directions that he could go down. He chose to make his way slowly down the tunnel opposite the one he entered. A short ways down that tunnel, he came to a crossroads of sorts. To his right was another tunnel that led to a door with another four beam lock over it. In front of him was another passage blocked by a humongous diamond. And to his left was a stone door like the on that trapped him in the last room.

Unable to open the stone door and keyless, Link headed back to the ice room and took the last remaining unexplored tunnel. He had more luck this time, luck that made him groan aloud. "Another lava room?!" he shouted.

From the outcropping that he stood on a thin, winding path lead across the room toward the other side. Deciding to see what he could from the other side of the room, Link started out across the very narrow piece of dirt. The whole time he could smell his boots cooking some more and his feet felt like they were on fire. Meanwhile, the tremendous heat made his chest and arm wounds hurt even more.

By the time that Link reached the end of the little path, he was almost sure that his feet were on fire, even though they weren't. From the end of the path he quickly spotted another locked door, across the lava, and a tunnel on the opposite side of the room from the door. Behind a wall that made it invisible, a crystal switch sat upon a round pedestal.

Hoping that his aim was good enough, Link pulled out his boomerang and let it fly. Like before, it missed the crystal on the first pass. Luckily for Link, the weapon tapped the crystal on the return trip, activating another timer and draining the magma from the room to reveal a hidden pathway that stretched from the tunnel all the way across the room to the locked door. Link caught the boomerang with surprising ease that surprised even him.

Since Link still did not have a key, he decided on the path that led to the open tunnel. When he got into the mouth of the tunnel, the ticking stopped and the magma filled the room once more. It looked like his luck was looking up.

This tunnel was just like the rest of them, diamonds sticking out of the walls and such. He even found another crystal switch buried in the wall in such a way that he was unable to see it from the other room. When he hit it experimentally, the crystal turned dark purple and the magma once again drained to reveal the path.

_So that's my way out,_ he thought, _that makes things easier._

Hoping that the harder part of his ordeal was over, Link moved ahead, intent on finding that sacred item. _Maybe this is it,_ he thought as he stepped into the cool room. It was dark, but not too dark to see, and several steps into the room, he heard the tell-tale splashes of puddles. There was water coating the entire floor of the room. In the center of the room, on a raised pedestal, stood a large and ornate treasure chest with gold lining and silver plating that shone in the dim light like a beacon.

"Yes, it looks like I found it." Link said as he approached the chest. With a heave he pushed the lid open. "Hang on guys; you'll be diamond free in no time." But when Link looked inside of the chest he found it empty. "What?"

"Hey, over here dummy!" Link whirled around just as the light level went up, another stone door slid shut, and the walls disappeared. Link now stood in an endless pool of reflective water and standing in front of the door was himself, only his skin was much darker and his outfit was black instead of green. "Thanks for letting me out of the box, stupid," his clone said, "Now die!"

* * *

There ends the second part of the Efreet Dungeon.

**Link**: "What in the world is going on? Who's that guy?"

**Dark Link**: "I'm your shadow, idiot."

**Link**: "How did you get in here?"

**Dark Link**: "I'm a part of you. Duh!"

**Link**: "Grr…"

Okay, stop fighting. Save it for the next chapter. DL, you go back to your shadow realm, okay.

**Dark Link**: "Fine… fine. See ya later, dorkwad!" (_Poof_)

**Link**: "Why did you invite him into here?"

I didn't, he just showed up. Anyway, please review.

**Link**: "And thanks for reading!"


	13. Interlude in Hyrule

**Link**: "I.K.A. Valian does not own The Legend of Zelda or Tales of Symphonia. Just me and plot changes. Now on with the story."

Whoa, Whoa, Whoa… Where do you think you're going?  
**Link**: "I want to kick the snot out of that Dark Link! So I was hurrying the story along. Now, on with the story!"

… nope, gotta thank the reviewers.

**Dark Link**: "Yeah, dipstick. Thank the freaking reviewers so that I can kick your lily ass."

**Link**: "Grrr… Go back to hell, barfbag!"

Okay… Thanks to_**Jenova Remnant AKA Fishie**_, _**freakyanimegal456**_,_**Canada Cowboy**_, _**Amekoryuu**_,_**mandrakefunnyjuice**_, and _**Rini Tsukino**_ for depositing a review. You rock!

**Link/Dark Link**: "On with the story so I can beat his face in!"

Yikes!!

* * *

- - - Hyrule - - -

Now that she thought about it, going after the Desians and Cruxis sounded good, but she had no idea how she would accomplish that. Not only that, but Colette had lost her duty when Cruxis betrayed her. Before she was the Chosen of Regeneration. Now she was… what? Even she couldn't come up with anything. Was she to remain an unwanted, unneeded soul; doomed to wander this strange planet for the rest of her life fighting Cruxis and Desians whenever she could.

Needless to say, all of the mental anguish she was putting herself through was draining, both mentally and physically. Fortunately, no one noticed the black clad blond brooding in the back of the line. Sooner or later though, she knew that her questions had to be answered. Especially one that kept bugging her; How was she going to get back home?

"There it is!" Colette looked up as she rounded the last tree on the edge of the forest to see one of the largest cities she'd ever seen. The sunlight seemed to illuminate every corner of the place, starting with the huge tower at the back. The base of the tower was a large, grey and green castle. In front of the castle was a large town nestled between two hills. In front of the town, stretching from hill face to hill face, was a large, thick, stone wall. Four watch towers were placed along the wall with two more place higher up on the hills. Set directly in the center of the stone wall was the most massive set of wooden doors Colette had ever seen.

"Hyrule Castle Town is the most modern city in all of Hyrule," Colin stated proudly. "Some even say it's the best in the world."

"Some Castle," snorted Ubella. "Apparently it wasn't good enough to keep the Dark One out."

"I'd like to see the Gerudo stop the King of Evil," Colin retorted.

"We'd do a shit lot better than you did!" Ubella shouted back.

"Stop fighting," pleaded Rutina. "Please?" Ubella turned her glare from Colin to Rutina, who shrank like a stretched out accordion. Ubella glared at the Zora girl for several moments before she turned and left the forest's edge they stood on, out into the grassy fields surrounding the Castle Town.

"What is with her?" Colin fumed. "Every time I say something, she's got to come back with an insult, even if I'm not talking to her."

"Have you thought that perhaps she enjoys making you squirm?" Rath asked. Colin looked at his fellow for several seconds before he shook his head and followed Ubella out of the forest.

"Those two fight worse than an Octork and a Deku Scrub," Rutina sighed.

"I don't know what those are," said Colette, "but they do fight. If anything, it's more like how cats and dogs fight."

"Oh, a cat and dog fight isn't as bad as an Octork and a Deku Scrub fight," Rutina said matter-of-factly.

"Really," Colette responded. "How is it worse?" And so the conversation went, as the group made its way across the open field of grass toward the large wooden gate. By the time they were half way there they could see a whole bunch of people, of all races, milling about the large open gates; refugees from the pillaging of Ganondorf's armies and the subsequent invasion of the Angelic Army.

"That's a lot of people," Colin observed.

"That Sheikah did say that people were coming here after their homes were destroyed," said Rath. "He never said how many though."

A sudden rumbling beneath their feet caused them all to freeze at the spot they were standing in. Rath looked around quickly and then noticed something on the horizon. All the blood drained from his face and his pupils shrank to small dots.

"Rath, what's wrong?" Rutina asked. Colin answered for him. He too was pale. His arms were shaking like a wet noodle.

"The sun just set," he said in a bare whisper. Rutina and Ubella realized why the two boys were shaking like leaves in an instant. "We… sh-should get into tow as f-fast as p-possible."

"Why?" Colette asked. "It's just the sun that went down."

"Trust me," said Colin, "just run!" They all started to move faster when Colette had her question answered when a pair of bony, skeletal hands with bits of meat and skin still attached punctured through the top soil and grabbed onto her legs. Her eyes widened as she looked down in time to see a skull emerge from the ground right between her legs, grinning its toothy grin right at her. Colette thought she heard screaming and only realized it was her own terrorized cry when Ubella slapped her.

The Gerudo then kicked the emerging skeleton's skull off of its shoulders and ran, pulling Colette with her. The bony hands scraped her skin as her legs were ripped from their grip, drawing several long crimson lines down the back of her calf.

With Colette free, they bolted as fast as they could, trying to catch up to the others. The skeletons were all over the place, sprouting out of the ground like Daisies on Crack. They had to dodge their slow grasps and jump over the ones that were still clawing their way out of the ground.

The mass of people that was milling about the gates to the city were screaming and panicking as even more Stalfos popped out among their numbers. Soldiers emerged from inside the city, ushering the panicked people inside as quickly as they could while bashing any skeletal soldiers that got close.

Archers stationed on top of the wall used mounted crossbows, specially geared to use massive wooden bolts that could blow a three inch hole in a fifty year old tree. They mowed down Stalfos, creating a buffer zone around the panicked crowds, as fast as they could.

Then, off in the distance, dozens of howls filled the air. Shadows could be seen approaching the crowds at break neck speeds. The archers turned their heavy crossbows and took aim at these new monsters.

A series of loud 'thwong's later and a barrage of these horse killer bolts sailed free. They quickly fell upon their intended targets, taking out six of the Wolfos immediately and maiming several others. Nevertheless, the remaining wild dogs raced on, salivating wildly at the prospect of a warm meal.

By this time Ubella had managed to drag Colette most of the way to the gate. The other had run ahead and by now managed to get inside of the gates. The soldiers started retreating back inside, all the people they were sent out to protect safely inside. They failed to see Ubella and Colette racing to get in.

"Wait!" shouted Colette.

"Keep those damn gates open," Ubella added. Giving off a loud thump, the two massive, wooden slabs slammed shut and were immediately locked. "Din burn you stinkin' Hylians!"

"Ubella…" The Gerudo girl turned and saw Colette staring that the semi-circle of Wolfos surrounding them. They had their teeth bared and drool was freely pouring from their doggie grins. "This isn't going to end well," Colette said.

"Bring it on, bone heads," Ubella said at the Stalfos. "You couldn't hurt a fly, you big bag of bones! And you," she shouted, pointing at the Wolfos. "You are the most pathetic Wolfos I've ever seen. All bones and no muscle. How do you expect to eat me if you can't even break my skin with your pathetic little teeth?"

Colette grabbed Ubella and covered her mouth. "What do you think you're doing," she hissed into the Gerudo's ear. The bony Stalfos, eyes now glowing deep, dark red, were now grinding their teeth together, creating a sound like that of a cracking and snapping bone. The Wolfos were now growling and drooling much more than they previously were. Both monster types looked absolutely incensed.

"Let me go," Ubella demanded back. "I'm not going without a fight!"

"Where's Colette and Ubella," asked Rutina. She, along with a multitude of other people, was panting and trying to catch her breath.

"I don't know," Colin said, looking around at the various people gathered near the inside of the Gate. "I thought they were right behind us."

"I think they were left outside," Rath panted. "Let's go up onto the wall and make sure they're not still out there." The three kids slowly made their way to the wall and were confronted by a guard standing in front of the stairs that led to the top of the wall.

"Where do you kids think you're going?" he asked gruffly.

"Please, Sir," said Colin. "We think our friends are stuck outside the gate. We wanted to look and make sure."

The man regarded Rutina and her companions for a few seconds before he turned and shouted, "Oi! Charley! This little Zora and her friends think there's someone outside the gate. Take a look, will ya!" Charley, an armor clad soldier standing guard at the top of the stairs, gave a wave and a nod. Then he disappeared, gone to peer over the wall. "Don't worry," the guard reassured them, "there ain't nobody left outside."

"Oi! Kal!" shouted Charley. "I'm lookin down the wall now, but I can't see nobody, just a bunch of Stalfos and Wolfos goin at each other."

"See," said Kal.

"Wait a minute!" Kal turned quickly to look up the stairs.

"What is it?!" he shouted.

"There is somebody down there," Charley shouted, "Two girls by the looks of 'em!" Forgetting about the three kids behind him, Kal bolted up the stairs, his metal armor clinking with each step.

"What do you mean ther're two girls down there," roared Kal as he reached the top of the stairs.

"Exactly what I said, Kal." His partner was leaning over the stone wall's edge, staring down while speaking over his shoulder. "And they're goin to town down there."

Kal walked up to the edge and joined the growing group of soldiers leaning over to watch the spectacle below. Rutina, Rath, and Colin followed Kal to the edge of the wall, climbed up onto the raised lip, and looked down.

Ubella was going nuts, kicking the heads and other random bones off of the Stalfos as if she'd been practicing to do so her entire life. Colette wasn't doing too bad herself. Every time a Wolfo or a Stalfo lunged at her, she dodged and planted a punch, jab, or kick as they missed.

"Wow," shouted one of the guards, "look at that Gerudo go! They don't call them Desert Vipers for nothing!"

"Yeah," shouted another. "But look at that blond girl. She'd give a Sheikah a run for their money. Nothing can touch her."

"Hey," shouted Colin, "Aren't you going to help them?"

"Who let a bunch of kids up here?" asked someone.

"Please," Rutina pleaded desperately, "they're going to die if you leave them down there."

"What's going on here?!" All the men immediately stood up straight with their shoulders back. "What are children doing on the wall?! And why are you all slacking off your duties!!"

The kids turned around and looked behind them to see a really, really short man. He was so short that even Rutina, the smallest of the group, was taller than him.

"Captain!" shouted Kal. "These kids came to me with a request to look over the wall for their friends. Sir!"

"And did you find anybody over there," the Captain grated out.

"Yes Sir, two girls, Sir!"

"Then why isn't anyone helping them?!" The men all visibly flinched under the scrutiny of this one, very small man. "Evans, Buka, get a rope and lower it down the wall now. Kal, Srick, Go down that rope, get those girls, and bring them back up. The rest of you, grab your bows and start creating a buffer zone around the girls so that they can safely make it up the ropes. Move!

"Yes, sir!" the men all shouted. The kids watched as all the soldiers broke into action. Several men ran into one of the towers and then emerged with bows and quivers full of arrows. Two men, apparently Evans and Buka, appeared with a rope. They tied one end around a stone catch and then tossed the rested of it over the wall. Two more soldiers, Kal and Srick, grabbed onto the rope and started repelling down the side of the wall as the bow wielding soldiers started taking out Wolfos and Stalfos.

"You kids need to get back," ordered the captain. They did so without question, fearing ever so slightly the short man's ire.

Ubella was just about to kick a Wolfos in the head when an arrow lodged itself in between the beast's eyes. She looked up and saw the two men scaling the side of the wall and scowled.

"They finally decided to come and get us," she shouted as she went back to kicking a Stalfo apart one bone at a time. "Din cursed Hylians, so slacking slow."

"At least they noticed us," said Colette, though her tone of voice said she felt the same way Ubella. The arrows from the soldiers on top of the wall soon began to drive back the beasts, even though several got through. Those beasts that did were quickly taken out by Ubella, or had their parts handed to them by Colette when she lightly kicked them and sent them sailing with her Angelic strength.

Soon enough, the two soldiers were on the ground and holding off the beasts, giving the girls a chance to climb. They'd made it half way up the wall when the soldiers decided they'd had enough and started climbing themselves. The men on top of the wall all grabbed onto the rope and started hauling the four of them up. Below them the Wolfos were jumping up the wall, snarling and snapping their jaws in a futile attempt to catch their dangling prey. The Stalfos were throwing some of their own bones at them, but with such bad aim as they had, they couldn't hit the broad side of a wagon.

After several tense moments, they were all safely on top of the wall. Rutina, Colin, and Rath crowded around their friends. "Good job," said the Captain. "Good work all of you. Keep that up and we'll beat them yet."

"Yeah!" shouted one of the soldiers, throwing his arms into the air. In the process, he knocked one of his fellows in the face. That soldier, who turned out to be Kal, grabbed onto the two closest things, which happened to be Rath and Colin. Then Kal proceeded to flip over the side of the wall and drag both boys with him. The soldier responsible for this looked behind himself dumbly. "Oops…"

"Colin! Rath!" The girls rushed to the side of the wall and looked down. They saw that the monsters were ganging up on the soldier and ignoring the boys behind him, but it wouldn't remain that way for long.

"You boy's just hang on tight," said Kal. Though he was winded and his armor was bent all over from taking the brunt of the fall, the man was still up and waving his sword around wildly to fend off the Wolfos and Stalfos. The monsters had enough of this feeble attempt at holding them off and swarmed him all at once. Kal went down quickly, his arms and legs hacked off by the Stalfos and his corps dragged off by Wolfos. In seconds there was nothing left of the soldier Kal.

"Oh crap" Colin said as the boys were surrounded by monsters. "Goddesses on high, if you hear my prayer, please, please, save us!" The Wolfos directly in front of the boys snarled loudly and leaped at them. And like an angel sent from the goddesses themselves, Colette landed on top of the wild dog, crushing its skull as she squished it into the ground. Her pink wings shone brightly in the darkness, causing the Wolfos and the Stalfos to rear back in pain.

Without any fanfare, Colette closed her eyes and murmured to herself. Her wings began to glow brighter and brighter. Then she bent forward, surrounding herself with her wings, and shouted, "Angel Feathers!" With several quick flaps, she sent hundreds of glowing pink feathers flying like knives through the crowd of monsters. They exploded upon contact with these feathers like the chemical reaction one gets when throwing sodium into water.

With the monsters dispersed, Colette grabbed both Rith and Colin and leaped into the air. She flapped her wings several times to get some upward thrust and was soon sailing through the air with one boy in each hand.

"H-hey, Colette. You do know how to land, right?" Colin asked.

"I've never flown before in my life!" she replied, somewhat excited and somewhat panicked at the same time. They circled higher and higher until they were high enough to land on the wall. "Here we go," Colette said as she twitched her wings subconsciously and aimed their trajectory for the top of the wall.

The soldiers were in awe as they flew over their heads and landed behind them in a pile with a thump. Rutina rushed forward to see if they were okay while Ubella just stood off to the side, trying to appear to not be concerned.

"Thank the Goddesses you're safe!" gushed Rutina. "I thought you were all going to die."

"It would take a lot more to kill us," boasted Colin. "Besides, we got Colette with us."

They all turned to Colette in time to see her slump over. Behind her unconscious form stood the Captain with a grim expression on his face. "Take these four into custody for questioning and send this spy to the dungeons," he ordered.

"Hey, what did you do that for!" shouted Colin as he was roughly grabbed around the waist and lifted into the air. Three other soldiers did the same to Ubella, Rutina, and Rath.

"Let go of me, you stinking Hylian slime!" shouted the incensed Gerudo. A fifth soldier picked up Colette's limp form and slung her over his shoulder. Then the five soldiers took their wards down the stairs and toward the castle.

* * *

"Princess." A tall blond woman, standing calmly at the lip of a balcony railing, tuned toward the source of the voice. It was the same Sheikah Colette had rescued that morning. He was kneeling in front of the tall woman with his head bowed. The woman turned from watching the latest escort of guards heading toward the castle to face the Sheikah.

"Did you accomplish your mission, Shix?" she asked.

"Yes, Princess," he responded quietly. "Unfortunately, I was the only one that survived the incursion. I am sure however, that they will not find it. They'd place a strange device in its place so it is unlikely that they knew of our aims. The documents I was able to obtain are being analyzed as we speak by the Librarian."

"Good," said the Princess. She turned back to face Hyrule Castle Town, placing her hands on the railing while watching the lights below. "Tell me Shix… Have we any chance of repelling these invaders. What were their numbers inside of the Temple?"

Shix remained silent, caught off guard by this rather informal address by the princess. "I.. don't think we have any chance as we are now... But I am no strategist. I am merely a soldier that does what he is told. Their numbers at the Temple were great. So great I would have died had it not been for a certain intervention."

The princess sighed. "At least our explosives caught them off guard. Perhaps we may still have a chance then."

"I apologize, Princess," Shix said, "but the explosion was not what spared my life. It was one of their own, an Angel of pink effervescent wings and black garb."

"An… Angel saved you… How can that be? They're all mindless as a Redead."

"I know not how," said Shix. "But this one in particular seemed more human than Angel. She was traveling with four young ones. All of them appeared as if they'd been imprisoned shortly before I intersected with them, perhaps even in the Temple itself."

"Perhaps they know of a way to defeat these monsters invading our lands." The Princess turned and walked off of the balcony back into the castle. "Where are they now?"

"I directed them to this location," explained Shix. He stood up and followed the Princess into the castle. They walked down the grand, wide, velvet covered staircase toward the main court. "By now they should have been arrested for harboring a spy, and in the case of the Angel, being a spy."

"Very good," said the Princess. With as much stealth as a small leaf falling onto a still pond, Shix disappeared in a small explosion of smoke. Just then, a heavy set man wearing heavy iron plate armor, approached the Princess. "Baron Barker, I've come to learn that you've captured a spy," said the Princess.

"Y-yes. Thought I know not how you've come of this knowledge. My men posted at the gate have captured another spy sent by the Angelic Army that has been ravaging the lands here and abroad. As we speak, my best men are… interrogating her." The Princess paused, a look of concern playing out across her face.

"I want you to bring her to me," said the Princess.

"It won't be lo- What?!"

"I said," the Princess spoke slowly, spelling it out plainly, "I want you to bring her to me. I'll be waiting in the throne room." The Baron slowed to a stop, grinding his teeth and clenching his hands.

"As you wish," he said at last while bowing his head, "Princess."

"Tell us what we want to know!" shouted the blond haired, dark skinned man. He twisted a wooden bar, winding a leather strap tighter, pulling Colette's arms higher and higher above her head. This wouldn't have been a problem for her except that her legs were also being pulled downward.

"For the last damn time, I don't know anything!" she shouted back. The interrogator grinned maliciously. How he loved his job. He then proceeded to stretch Colette's arms even more, turning the wooden bar two, three, four times. Colette reared her head back and screamed. Thinking that he was getting somewhere, the man turned the wooden bar some more; a fifth and a sixth time. Just as he turned it the seventh time, Colette grit her teeth and pulled.

Quite quickly the metal bar snapped off of the piece of wood it was attached to. This thoroughly pissed off the interrogator and relieved Colette. The growling man picked up a metal bar and started beating Colette. The girl brought her hands up to protect her head as the man went crazy with the bar. But what incensed the man most of all was how no matter how many bruises, cuts, welts, and gashes he inflicted upon the girl, she never once flinched. It was as if she wasn't feeling any of the blows.

The large wooden door creaked loudly as it opened, admitting a two armor clad soldiers. One went over to the interrogator, restraining him and explaining the situation while the second soldier went to Colette and untied her from the leather restraining straps. She was staring at her bloodied hands in astonishment and appeared completely unaware as she was lead from the room by the same soldier who untied her.

The armored man led her down the hall, up a flight of stairs, through the guard barracks, and into the court yard of the castle. As she was lead through the courtyard, leaving a trail of bloody footprints, Colette became aware of the four other guards escorting her.

They walked up to a pair of large, intricately carved wooden doors. Two servants on either side of the door, dressed in purple and grey, reached out and heaved. Slowly, the door swung open. The wood groaned from the shifting of weight but the hinges produced barely a whisper.

Into the majestic throne room Colette was led. Lined up on either side were more soldiers wielding their spears in an upright position from which they could attack easily. At the end of this tunnel of steel and flesh stood Ubella, Rath, Colin, and Rutina, each chained up at the wrists by heavy steel chains. And sitting in the throne in front of them was a partially hidden blond woman wearing finely crafted, frilly clothes.

Once Colette was standing next to the kids, the soldier escorting her knocked her in the back of the knees with the butt of his spear. This caused her to fall to her knees and splatter blood from her numerous wounds all over the velvet-like carpet below her. Colette looked over at the kids and saw a few cuts and bruises on them, but nothing as bad as the state she was in. Strangely enough, she still didn't feel any of the pain that she knew she should have.

The woman sitting on the throne stood up and walked forward a few paces to stand in front of the five prisoners before her. Colette looked up and gasped slightly.

"You-you're…" she stuttered.

"Greetings," said the Princess, "I am Princess Tetra."

* * *

**Link**: "What the hell? Where am I?"

Sorry, this was an interlude chapter. Hehehe… The rest of the Triet Ruins will be next chapter.

**Link**: "Awe, come on."

Sorry. Please review! My goal is to get at least 200 by time this story is over. So please, if you can, review.

**Link**: "And thanks for reading!"

**Dark Link**: "Whatever…"


	14. Triet Ruins Part Three

**Link/Dark Link**: "mmph mmm!"

Ahh, peace and quiet.

**Link**: "Mmm mmph mmm!"

**Dark ****Link**: "Hmm hmm hmm!"

Thank you _**Jenova Remnant AKA Fishie**_, _**Canada Cowboy**_,_**frostneko**_, _**Zoray Zorial**_,_**TalesOfSymphonia-AndAnime-Fan**_,_**mandrakefunnyjuice**_, _**freakyanimegal456**_, and _**Rini Tsukino**_. Now, I do not own Tales of Symphonia or The Legend of Zelda, but I do own this particular Link and all plot changes. Wow… been a while since I said it.

**Link**: "Mmmph!"

Yeah, yeah, okay, on with the story.

* * *

- - - Hyrule - - -

"You… you're…"

"Greetings," said woman, "I am Princess Tetra, ruler of the Kingdom of Hyrule."

The soldiers and knights surrounding the kids all kneeled at once, bowing their heads. Colin and Rath both did the same, though grimaces flitted across their faces as their bruised bodies cried out in pain. Rutina crossed both arms over her chest, so that her arm fins pointed outward like flags, and bowed. She also winced slightly in pain. Ubella snorted and refused to recognize the princess in any way other than a curt nod.

"You have all been found guilty of committing treason against this state," continued Tetra.

A very round man in heavy plate armor and a look that would make infants cry three rooms away stood to the right of the Princess. He was chuckling loudly as he walked forward and started pacing in front of the kids. "I am Baron Barker." The man was clearly trying to intimidate them. "How pleased I am to make your acquaintance," the man said with sick sweetness. Colette knew instantly that he would have liked nothing more than to kill her right there and wouldn't have batted an eye either. "How do you plan to explain your guilt?" asked the portly man.

"I won't explain myself to a bunch of weak Hylian dogs!" shouted Ubella.

"Not that we'd expect anything less than a serpent's tongue on a Gerudo," the Baron laughed. Several of the soldiers joined him.

"Well," demanded the Baron, standing in front of Rutina, "what do you have to say for yourself?"

Rutina started shaking and stuttered, "I-I-I-I-I-I d-don't-"

"Leave her alone," demanded Colin.

"Quiet boy," the Baron ordered angrily, causing the boy to flinch. "You traitors apparently don't know the amount of trouble you are all in. Aiding and harboring a spy of the enemy. Attempting to infiltrate this stronghold and steal its secrets with said enemy. Attempting to assassinate royalty…" the Baron chuckled again. "The list goes on."

"That is enough, Barker," Tetra bit out. "I'll not have you making a circus out of my court!"

"As you wish, Princess," the Baron said, smiling back. He moved back to the right of the Princess and took the position he was in before. "What is your verdict, my Princess?"

"Since she is the enemy," Tetra said, motioning toward Colette, "she must be put to death for the good of the kingdom." A grin as wide as his face split open on the Baron. "However, her official sentencing will have to wait until the full Council of Lords has been assembled. Until that time, she and these kids will be held in the castle jail under heavy guard. Is that understood, Baron Barker?"

Barker was opening and clenching his fists while grinding his teeth and tensing his muscles. Colette felt a little thrill of elation at the spiting of that man's designs. Everything about the fat man made her inside bristle.

Finally, Baron Barker grinned and said in his sickly sweet voice, "Yes… My Princess."

- - - Sylvarant - - -

"Thanks for letting me out of my box, stupid," said his shadow, "now, die!"

"What in the world are you?" Link asked. But the shadow kept a tight lip and moved forward, unsheathing his ebony broadsword from behind his right shoulder. On his right arm appeared a large, wooden shield. Link didn't have to be told that this wouldn't end well if he didn't fight back.

He unsheathed both of his wooden swords and prepared to fight this shadow of himself. But the shadow slowed to a stop, chuckling to himself. The laughter shortly morphed into peals of laughter that caused the dark Link to fall to the ground. Link frowned as he wearily watched the shadow, wincing from his injuries across his torso and right arm.

"What's so funny?" asked Link.

"You… You're… You're…" gasped the shadow between bouts of laughter. Link's frown deepened as this went on. Deciding that he'd had enough, and because the laughing was really starting to irritate him, he charged forward as best he could. His wounds, though, burned like firecrackers. He stumbled as he charged and fell to the damp ground. This only caused the shadow to laugh even harder.

"It's too much!" squealed the shadow. "You're so bad at this that you're beating yourself!"

"Shut up!" shouted Link. He gasped as he tried to stand up, only to slip and fall backwards. "Ahh!" Link cried as his wounds opened afresh and bled freely. The blade in his right hand fell to the floor with a wooden clatter as the pain became too great to hold onto it.

"Ha ha ha ha!" laughed the shadow. "And here I thought I'd be facing some fearsome, hardened warrior. You're nothing but a weak little boy!" Link attempted to stand up, again slipping, but still managed to stand nonetheless.

"I am not weak," he rasped. "I am the hero that's going to save Hyrule!"

The shadow Link managed to stop his laughing and yet he continued to chuckle every now and again. "Right," he said. "Whatever, weakling. You'll never be able to beat me. You might as well give up now. I might even be moved enough to let you live if you beg for your life. Then again… maybe not."

"I'm never going to beg-"

"Oh," interrupted the shadow, "too bad then." The shadow rushed forward, his broadsword held high. Link raised the sword he still held to block, only to watch it get chopped in half quite easily, not even having enough density to slow the ebon blade down. The dark Link watched in satisfaction as his blade sliced deep into the boy's shoulder, blood spraying all over the place.

Before Link could hit the ground, the shadow reared back and kicked Link as hard as he could. Link could hear and feel several of his ribs snapping in several places.

When Link landed on the ground, his shadow jumped into the air and dropped down on top of him, his sword sliding neatly into Link's gut. Link's eyes flew open with a stark realization. He was going to die.

With a burst of strength that even he didn't know he had, Link pushed past the pain in his chest, gut, and arm and socked his dark clone in the face with his left hand. The blow sent the shadow reeling backwards.

That small burst of strength was all he had to offer, it turned out. Link quickly collapsed as the blood loss and shock from all his injuries set in. The shadow stood up, wiping the orange blood from his lip.

He walked up to Link's dying body with a sneer on his face. "In what fantastical world could a weakling like you beat me?" A kick to the head knocked Link out. His body, still in shock, shivered in the cold damp waters. The shadow twisted his head to the side, curiously. He reached down and pulled out the small black triangle Link kept in his pocket.

The bright foggy room disappeared, along with the Shadow Link, to be replaced by a dark, wet, and silent cave like room. Save for Link, who was bleeding to death internally and externally, the room was completely empty.

Inside of Link's mind, all the lights were going out. Things were becoming so sluggish. It was becoming… so very… hard to breath. He just wanted to… sleep…

...

...

...

"You have to be one of the luckiest boys I've ever seen. Hehe."

Link groaned and cracked his eye lids open a sliver. He could still feel his wounds but they no longer impeded his movement. All around him, a strange white glow filled the room and funny little multicolored sparkles flew this way and that through the air. Link immediately opened his eyes in shock. He wasn't dead! He felt for his wounds and found only torn clothing.

"Maybe next time he won't go getting himself killed."

"No, you can tell he's the type to go off and do something stupid."

"Yeah, he's _that_ kind of kid."

"Hush, all of you," cooed a motherly voice over all of the other high pitched voices. Link was floating in mid air. All around him flew pixies of one variety or another. And directly in front of him floated a very thin, very naked woman with gossamer wings flitting about behind her back.

One of the pixies flitted up close to Link and slapped him on the nose, which to Link felt like being poked with a needle. "You're lucky that you nearly died in a Fairy Fountain."

"Ahhh!" shouted Link as the magic holding him up faded and he fell from the air onto the damp ground.

"Young hero, this fountain is somehow connected to Hyrule, the land from which you are lost," said the naked Great Fairy. "Though I know not the secrets of this land, I can offer you your health and one more thing." The Great Fairy waved her hand and all the small sparkles left in the wake of the smaller pixies started coalescing around Link.

He started walking backwards with a worried expression on his face. The swirling pixie dust turned into a mini vortex and lifted Link off the ground. After several seconds of blowing about his clothes and hair, the vortex vanished and Link floated back down to the ground.

"Your latent magic has been enhanced," explained the Great Fairy serenely. "Use it wisely." The Great Fairy walked up to Link. The boy stiffened as the imposing magical being, and very naked woman, placed a warm hand on his forehead and brushed the strands of hair out of his face. "Hurry home, young hero," the Great Fairy said, "the lands of your forefathers will not long stand the onslaught it is under."

The Great Fairy, the pixies, and the bright serene light disappeared as soon as Link blinked. He blinked a few more times, digesting what he'd just seen, and trying to remember where he was. He remembered walking into this room and finding a chest… The chest!

Link quickly spotted the chest and ran over to it. The box remained open from when Link released the shadow. _My shadow,_ Link thought wryly. A small twinkle of light caught Link's eye from inside of the chest. With a grunt, he leaned down into the box and grabbed what felt like a metal doohickey. When he stood back up, he was holding another small key.

_At least this room wasn't a complete waste of time. _Link pocketed the small key, but as soon as his hand entered the small cloth enclosure, he froze. The piece of the Proto-Triforce was gone.

"No," Link cried. His throat was instantly dry as fear and desperation gripped his heart. "No! No, no, no, no, no! Where could it have gone?! Who could have taken it?!" Link looked this way and that, all over the small, dark room, but he wasn't able to find the mystical item. "Oh no… Now how are we going to get home?!"

"So the shadow warrior took something precious from you? He he he he he he!" Link spun around to face the shadow with the mono-eye. "I suppose it's to be expected, he he he he. Don't worry. You might just get it back, if you survive this dungeon that is." Link's eyes narrowed.

"You mean that… that Dark Link took it? Where is he?!"

"Oh, is that what form it took, eh? _Your_ shadow, what a fitting challenge. Something to watch over a good drink of fine wine." Link watched the shadow seesaw across the room like a drunken ballet dancer, slowly disappearing. "You better hurry, little boy. You have less than an hour before your friends turn into diamonds forever."

"What do you mean?" shouted Link at the fading shadow. "I haven't even been in here for one hour yet!"

"You were dead for over an hour boy, don't be so stupid next time your friend's lives are on the line! That is if you even have any friends left after this… Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Link slapped a hand onto his face and groaned in frustration. How was he going to save his friends if he kept getting all these set backs?! Shaking his head, Link retrieved his last intact sword from the ground and sheathed it. He didn't have time for thinking about what could have happened.

Link rushed from the room, once again determined to save the Princess, Lloyd, and the others from certain doom. Upon his return to the lava path room, he discovered to his dismay that the thin strip of solid land sticking out from the tunnel that lead to the ice room had disappeared beneath the glowing magma.

Link sighed in relief though when the path hidden beneath the magma appeared after he slashed the crystal switch. And on the other side of that path was a door with a lock on it. It all seemed too easy for Link up until he rounded a corner in the cave he found behind the newly unlocked door.

"Not again," groaned Link. Indeed, it was another room of ice. "Please let this be the last one," the boy in green begged.

As last time, when Link entered the room, the door behind him slammed down. Link still jumped, not completely used to the effect that a closed off room had on him. From somewhere above, a Lizalfo dropped down. Link had to look twice to before he was sure. It was the same Lizalfo from before, except that its face was largely bashed up beyond recognition.

The monster stomped its feet several times, as if to say that things wouldn't go the same as last time. Link, though, did not understand monster and simply unsheathed his sword. He looked down at it uncertainly.

"And here I thought that thing was dead," said Link. The Lizalfo glared at him, waiting for Link to make the first move. "I don't think that the same strategy I used before will work. The only thing I have is my Boomerang and Lantern." Link looked up, racking his brain for something. The Lizalfo took this as its signal to attack.

It reared its head back, breathing in so deeply that it sounded like it was going to simply explode. But instead of exploding, the creature threw its head forward and loosed a stream of flame several times larger than the one it used the first time he and Link clashed. The stream of fire moved so fast that it singed Link's outfit as he dodged out of the way.

"I guess I'll try for the Great Spin," Link grunted to himself. The Lizalfo looked at him sideways, as if curiously studying him. Then it reared its head back again, preparing another blast of fire. Link again got singed as he jumped out of the way and slammed into a wall. Without waiting for Link to recover, the Lizalfo once again reared back. This time, Link's right arm was caught in the blast as he jumped out of the way.

"Ahh," Link cried out as he fell to the ice. The Lizalfo reared its head back, preparing to blast Link while he was down on the ice. But then something caught and the Lizalfo's eyes went wide. It began hopping around, flailing about with its tail and clawing at its throat. Link peeked up, half expecting to see the stream of fire heading straight for him.

But the sight that greeted Link was unlike anything that he'd ever seen before. The Lizalfo's head was glowing, smoke was coming out of the sides of the creatures scaly head (supposedly where its ears were), and its eyes were bulging out of its already bashed in face. Several seconds later, the Lizalfo's head exploded, expelled off of its body by a deafening blast of fire coming from the creature's torso.

Link was knocked off of his feet by the blast and landed in icy water that was melted by the inferno bellowing out of the Lizalfo's body. It took several second, but by the time the burned out husk of the Lizalfo fell over, all of the ice in the rather small room was a sloshing, icy mess on the floor.

"Wow…" Link got up, cradling his right arm carefully. "That was unexpected. It must have had heartburn."

Link rubbed his right arm, trying to get the feeling to come back into it. As he was walking toward the now opened door on the opposite side of the room, he noticed a wooden chest that had previously been hidden underneath the ice. Upon further inspection, Link found another small key inside.

"What's with all these small keys?" Link muttered to himself. Upon exiting the room, Link entered into a long hallway, at the end of which was another locked door that, conveniently, he had now had a key for. "Why lock a door if you're going to give me a key to unlock it almost ten seconds before?"

When Link opened the door and stepped inside, the floor opened up beneath him. "Ahhh!" Link's voice trailed off as he fell down an icy chute into darkness. Link slide down the chute faster and faster. The ice-slide emerged from the dark tunnel, Link sliding like a Keese out of hell, into a magma chamber. The slide twisted around and entered another wall, dropping Link back into darkness.

The chute twisted around and around as Link slid through the darkness. Eventually, the chute leveled out and Link began to slow down. That happed to be a good thing when the chute ended suddenly. Link shot out of another wall and fell all of four feet to the dusty ground. Soft light filtered down into the enormous room from high above.

"What a rush," Link said. He brushed his wind frozen spiked hair back down and straightened his tunic out. He was standing in a large open room that rivaled the Renegade hanger for open space.

"He he he..." Link spun around to face the person laughing, but no one was there. "He he he he…" Link spun around, again facing open air.

"What's going on?" Link wondered aloud. He unsheathed his sword and spun around in a circle, looking for something amiss and listening to the whooshing sound that the sword made as it cut through the air.

About three-fourths of the way through is second turn, Link saw something move in his out of the side of his eye. He stopped and quickly faced that way, hoping to catch the phantom off guard. That's when something tapped him on the shoulder from behind.

Link immediately dropped to the ground. He fought through the terror that gripped his heart with hardheaded courage and jumped up swinging his sword. But nothing was there for him to hit.

"What is going on," Link asked, completely bewildered.

"He he he," laughed the invisible voice. Its screechy and antagonistic echo reminded Link of one of his classmates. "You almost got me that time. I've been alone for so long. Let's play!"

All the lights suddenly went out, leaving Link in complete, pitch black darkness. Link quickly pulled out his lantern. With a small puff of magic, the wick came to life, creating a bubble of light within the veil of darkness.

With his sword in his left hand and his lantern in the other, Link started walking forward. Every now and again, he swore that he saw something run by him. But by the time he was ready to attack, there was nothing there.

"He he… You can't see me," sing-songed the voice. Link reacted before he knew what was happening. The voice had come from so close behind him that he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck move as the person spoke. He spun around with his sword extended, executing a small sword spin. This time his sword hit something solid, which it knocked to the ground.

"Oowww…" whined the voice. Link inspected where the evidence of his actions was supposed to be, but found nothing. "You're too good. Let's play catch instead."

The lights, as swiftly as they went out, came back to full strength. Link deactivated his Lantern, cautiously keeping an eye out as the put the device away.

"Catch!" Link spun around just in time to take a fireball to the face. He flew backwards into the air for a few feet and fell into a heap on the ground. "See, isn't this fun?"

Link cracked open his burning eyes and saw his adversary for the first time. It was another shadow creature, similar to the first one that encased Zelda and the others in diamond, except that this one was taller, leaner, and more jittery. It disappeared and reappeared standing over Link milliseconds.

"Come on, come on!" it sang out, "get up, let's play!" Link watched the shadow dancing about the room, flitting this way and that. It traveled from one spot to another using its instant teleportation that left a trail of shadow in the creatures wake.

"You want to play?" Link stood up with a grin on his face. "Okay, let's play. I'm the best seeker in Hyrule!"

Link picked up his sword and ran forward with a grin on his face. The shadow creature stopped and started generating a fire ball. Just before Link could catch up to the shadow, it launched the fire ball and teleported away. Link jumped to the side to avoid being hit by the fire ball, only to be tripped by the shadow's foot.

"Oops," it said innocently, then teleported away, cackling immaturely. Link grunted as he stood up and chased after the shadow again. The shadow teleported this way and that around the room, following a predictable pattern. Then it stopped and started generating another fire ball. Link was almost in reach of the shadow but decided to do something different.

He pulled out his boomerang and threw it at the shadow. The angled weapon whacked the shadow with a solid thump and dropped him to the ground. Link caught up to the shadow and put a foot on the creature's chest while he picked up his boomerang.

"No fair," the creature whined. Link grinned down at it.

"I told you, I'm the best seeker in Hyrule," Link said, particularly pleased with himself.

The shadow disappeared again in an explosion of shadow particles. The particles faded from view and left behind a rather large treasure chest. Link reached down and heaved, pushing open the heavy wooden lid.

Peering inside, Link saw a pair of shiny, silver gloves. He pulled them out and looked at them curiously. "Are these the sacred item that shadow was talking about?" The gloves were really thin and dainty looking. "These don't even look like they could be used for cooking…"

Shrugging, Link slipped the silver gloves on. He didn't feel any more powerful. Holding his hands up in front of him, he watched the light reflect off of the glove's surface like that of a shimmering lake at dusk. If anything, they did look good, but that appeared to be it.

"Now how do I get out of here?" Link wondered. He looked left and right, but the only things that he could see were a pile of boulders and another one of those huge diamonds. Weary from his battles and having no apparent way out, Link walked over to the huge diamond and leaned against it.

It took several seconds, but it wasn't long before Link lay on his back. The diamond, which weighed several hundred tons, had rolled away. The rolling gem smacked into and bounced off of the pile of boulders. The boulders weren't able to withstand the enormous force and crumpled completely.

Link sat in utter shock. How had he done that? He looked down at the path left by the very heavy diamond, as if to verify that it was indeed a very heavy diamond. The oversized gem left a deep gouge in the dirt as it rolled, leaving no doubt about its weight.

Link's eyes traveled to the gloves he now wore. They were glowing slightly. When Link got over his shock, and the glowing gloves, he noticed that the boulder had been hiding a pathway, another tunnel. Hoping that it would lead back to the others, Link took off into the newly revealed tunnel.

He was disappointed to find himself in another puzzle room when he emerged from the tunnel. There were boulders, twice as big as Kratos, rolling in circles inside of a pit. On the other side of the room was another tunnel, which no doubt was where Link had to get to. But the boulders rolling about in the pit stood in the way.

"It never ends," Link bemoaned. Then Link looked down at the gloves on his hands and laughed. "If these gloves make me strong enough to roll a huge diamond, these boulders should be nothing."

Link jumped confidently down into the pit. When a boulder headed his way, he reached back and then punched the rolling rock. The boulder flew through the air and slammed into the opposite wall, but did not break. It rolled down the wall and closed in on Link much faster than it had previously been moving.

"Oh crap," said Link. He turned and ran into the flowing boulders within the pit. Chaos consumed the room as the boulders all started smacking into each other and going in radical and unpredictable directions.

Link dodged and weaved, nearly having his head smashed and his legs squished several times. Somehow he made it to the other side of the room and pulled himself up onto the ledge. When he looked back into the pit, he watched the boulders continue their new chaotic dance, unable to fathom how exactly he navigated that mess.

Now even wearier than he had been before, and with his adrenalin level falling now that he was safe from the boulders, Link trudged into the next tunnel. He didn't know adventuring was so tiring.

In the next room was only one thing; another chest sat in the center of the room. The completely golden chest was encased in a diamond, just like the others. Link looked at his gloves, which were still glowing.

"I hope this works," he said. He moved up to the diamond and pushed on it. But nothing happened. The diamond was completely embedded in the floor, so nothing was going to move it. "Stupid diamond," Link grumbled wearily. He punched the crystalline structure.

The diamond cracked from the impact. Link turned and looked around the room for an exit while yawning. The crack on the diamond expanded until the entire gem was covered in the fractures.

Link turned just in time to watch the giant diamond shatter. But the diamond around the chest wasn't the only thing that shattered. The floor did as well. _The entire room was a giant diamond! _Link realized too late.

Link screamed as he fell through the floor with the golden treasure chest. They both fell through the vast chamber beneath. It wasn't long before they both landed in a pile of sand.

When Link forced his tired eyes open, he smiled. He was back in the room he started this crazy dungeon in. The others were sill frozen in the same positions they'd been in before.

Running over to Zelda, Link smashed the diamond she was in with a quick punch to the gem. Zelda fell to the ground, coughing and breathing deeply.

"Link… The others…" The boy nodded and shortly, everyone was free of their diamond imprisonment.

"Thank you, Link," said Raine. "If it weren't for you, all of us would have been trapped inside of those crystals forever."

"Yeah," said Lloyd, "thanks. I'll make it up to you somehow."

"You have my gratitude as well," said Zelda. Link waved them off.

"It wasn't… any…" Link swayed back and forth and then fell to the ground. The silver gloves on his hands stopped glowing.

"Link!" The others rushed over to him. Both Genis and Lloyd were pushed away by Raine. She bent over Link's body and listened. Then she reached out and measured his pulse with two fingers on the side of his neck.

"It's alright," she said finally. They gave a collective sigh of relief to know that he wasn't dead. "He's just sleeping. But his Mana level is dangerously low. Something seems to have sucked him dry."

"Hey," said Lloyd. He dropped to his knees and pulled the gloves off of Links' hands. "Where did he get these?"

"Oh, so I see that the little boy found the sacred items! How very good for you!" Lloyd jumped to his feet and unsheathed his swords, standing in front of the group defensively. Genis pulled out his kendama, glaring at the shadow hovering a few feet above their heads in front of them.

"Oh, ho ho," chortled the shadow. "Aren't you a brash one? Who might you be?"

"Give me your name and I'll give you mine," responded Lloyd.

"Oh my, very brash indeed," said the shadow.

"Lloyd," Genis said under his breath. "I don't think you should be purposely trying to annoy a floating shadow that can turn you into a diamond."

"He just caught me off guard last time," said Lloyd indignantly. "It won't happen again."

"Is that so," said the shadow. "Well you appear to have a high opinion of yourself."

"Grr…" A slender hand reached out and stopped the brown-haired youth.

"Lloyd, let me handle this," said Zelda. He walked forward several feet and fully faced the shadow. "I am the Princess Zelda of Hyrule. Who and what are you?"

"Oh my," said the shadow in surprise. It dropped to the ground and started groveling. "Oh my, oh my, oh my, royalty. Please forgive my insolence, Princess."

"You haven't answered my question," said Zelda forcefully. "Who are you? What are you?"

"What, no small talk? How sad." Zelda stared at the shadow, which seemed to wilt a little under her stern gaze. "I am the guardian of the power used to seal a great evil. He he, I can't remember who I am anymore."

"We read about the guardians," said Genis. "They were protecting the Proto-Triforce."

The shadow rushed up to Genis, placing a smoky-black, transparent hand over the boy's mouth. "Oh no, oh no, you musn't name the power. No, never name the power." Genis tried to push the shadow's hand away as it floated back into the air. "No, never name the power. He will use your voice as a way to escape. He can hear you if you speak of it. Always knows. Always knows."

"You speak of the evil Wizard correct?" asked Raine.

"Evil? Maybe… yes, the evil Wizard. He was evil, right? No, not evil. Maybe…" Lloyd looked at Genis and the Raine uncertainly.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Me? I'm not alright, I'm fine. Like bread and jam! Jam! I love jam! It goes good on bread! It's been so long since I've had bread and jam… Do you have any?"

"You've been guarding this power for so long that you've gone mad, haven't you?" the princess said sadly. It was a statement as much as a question.

"No, I'm not mad," said the shadow, flitting around the room like an insect. "A little happy, a little sad, a little angry… Yes, we are happy!" The shadow guardian started singing about being happy in very off key notes.

Zelda turned to the others and shook her head sadly. "It's just like on the tablet back at the Martel Temple. He went mad after being alone for so long."

The shadow suddenly stopped singing and dove down to the ground. It floated there for several seconds and then said in a deep and serious voice, "Traveler from afar, we the guardians have waited for your arrival and the destruction of the Evil kept imprisoned within a device named the Proto-Triforce."

"We know that," said Lloyd. "We read about it in the place that we got the last piece of the blasted thing."

The shadow froze. The air suddenly dropped several degrees at once as the shadow zoomed up to Lloyd and grabbed him by the shoulders. "You WHAT?!"

"We have already acquired a piece of the Proto-Triforce," said Zelda quietly. "It was in an underground maze north of here. And you should know that the-"

"Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no," shouted the shadow. It dropped Lloyd and rose into the air, continuing to repeat its mantra. "He's free," the shadow moaned. "All of our work for the past eons lay in waste at the feet of some stupid children and their stupid Princess. Oh fools we were to assume him trapped. Oh no!"

"We need to find all the pieces so that we can trap him again," said Genis. But the shadow wasn't listening.

"Got to protect it. Got to protect it." He flew off into a pile of boulders muttering the same thing over and over again. "Got to protect it. Got to protect it."

Lloyd sheathed his swords and looked at the others. "I guess he had something to protect."

"Lloyd," shouted Genis. "He was going to protect the piece of the Proto-Triforce that's kept here."

"Oh," said Lloyd. "Oh! We should follow him."

"That would be impossible, Lloyd," said Raine. "He floated through a pile of rocks. Unless you've got some way of blasting through that pile of rocks, then there is no way we can follow him."

"Mmm…" The group looked down at Link as he stirred. When he opened his eyes, he smiled. "I guess it wasn't a dream," he said. He tried to sit up, but was still too exhausted to do so. "Wow… what happened."

"You've used up all your Mana," said Genis. "So it isn't surprising that you're completely exhausted. What were you doing that could use up so much Mana?"

"And what are these?" asked Lloyd, holding up the silver gloves.

"Those are the sacred item that the shadow told me about," said Link drowsily. "They let me break the diamonds that were holding you."

"What?!" Genis' question wasn't answered though. Link passed out once more.

"It's surprising he was awake at all," said Raine. "He's still suffering from extreme Mana exhaustion. But what he said about the gloves was interesting. For now, I'm going to call them the Diamond Gloves."

The healer reached out and took the gloves from Lloyd. "They appear to be silver in composition, but they're too light and thin to be made of metal. I've never seen material like this before."

Zelda looked over Raine's shoulder. "I have," said the princess, "though I didn't think I'd ever see any outside of Hyrule. That's a material called Mythril. Its magical properties are so great that it is coveted by any and all who find it. It's said that the Master Sword was crafted with Mythril as one of the ingredients, but no one knows for sure how _that _mighty blade was crafted."

"Princess, your breadth of knowledge is enormous," Raine commented.

"You don't live in a castle all day without picking one or two things up," Zelda said. "Anyway. What Link said now makes a bit more sense. If there's a spell cast upon these Diamond Gloves, then it wouldn't be beyond comprehension that they're capable of smashing diamonds with one blow."

"Diamonds are the hardest substance in existence," Genis recited. "It's not possible to smash them."

"Maybe not," said Raine as she tugged on the gloves. "But if magic is involved, then nothing is impossible." Raine walked up to a wall and punched it. But nothing happened. "Hmm, maybe Link was wrong." Several seconds later, the gloves started glowing softly.

"Uhh… Sis, the gloves… they're glowing."

Raine looked down at the gloves and arched an eyebrow. "Curious," she said. She punched the wall again. This time, her fist punched into and through the rock, creating a fist sized hole. "Fascinating!" she said, her eyes lit up. She pulled her hand out of the wall and looked at her glove. "Now I see. This is what drained Links' Mana. These gloves use Mana as a power source."

"That's great," said Lloyd. "Now we can follow that shadow guardian."

"Hmm…" Raine walked up to the pile of boulders. "I won't be able to knock these all down by myself. The power that I get from these gloves is concentrated around my fist. Perhaps…" The healer walked over to one of the boulders and punched it. Again, her fist went right through the side of the rock, making a hole. "No, that will definitely not work."

"Professor." Raine turned and looked at Lloyd. He was standing next to a giant diamond stuck in the ground. "Maybe you can use this to break all those rocks at once. It's definitely big enough."

"That… just might work…" Raine walked up to the enormous gem and grabbed the diamond. With little to no effort, Raine lifted the several ton heavy diamond above her head. Dirt and small rocks rained from the end of it that had previously been buried in the ground.

Lloyd watched in astonishment. "Whoa, Professor!"

"Stand back, Lloyd," grunted Raine. She turned the diamond around above her and faced the wall of boulders. She heaved slightly and sent the diamond sailing through the air. It smashed into the boulders with a loud crash that shook the whole room. Dust rained down from above. But the path was clear now. The diamond sat to the side of a newly opened pathway.

"Whew," Raine said, now exhausted from the Mana drain. She pulled the gloves off and sat down on a small boulder that had rolled to a stop near her. "That was a lot harder than I thought it would be."

"Sis, that was awesome," shouted Genis, jumping into the air excitedly.

"Yeah," said Lloyd. "Colette would have loved that…"

"Yes, I'm sure she would have," agreed Raine.

"There appears to be a large locked door at the end of the pathway," said Zelda. She was standing next to the rubble at the entrance to the newly opened tunnel. "The lock is enormous. What manner of key would open a door like that?"

Genis ran up to the Princess and peered into the darkness as well. "It looks like the same size lock as in the last place. The one door that guarded the room with that enormous spider in it."

Lloyd shivered as he remembered the monster. "I hope there isn't another one of those monsters here too. One giant spider is enough."

"Hey, look," shouted Genis. He'd been walking back toward Raine and Lloyd when his spotted the golden treasure chest on the ground near Link. "That chest wasn't there before."

"Let's look inside of it," said Lloyd. The two boys ran up to it and worked on opening it. It was a heavy lid, made of solid gold.

"Are you going to be alright?" Zelda asked Raine.

The healer nodded. "I just need to rest a little to recharge my Mana. It's amazing how much it took to use these gloves."

"It must have been hard on Link too," Zelda said, glancing at the sleeping Hylian. "I wonder how long he was wearing them."

"Far too long," surmised Raine.

Lloyd and Genis finally returned. Genis was carrying an enormous golden key and Lloyd was walking awkwardly. "Lloyd was a moron and kicked the solid gold box as hard as he could," Genis said flatly. "Instead of denting the box, the box dented him."

"Hey," Lloyd complained, "how was I supposed to know it was made of solid gold?"

Raine sighed. "Lloyd, you have to be more cautious in the future. For now, let us try and follow that shadow guardian."

Genis handed Zelda the giant gold key and went with Lloyd to get Link. Once they were all standing in front of the enormous door, the princess inserted the large key into the golden lock and turned it to the right.

The lock itself was a circular device in the center of the bottom portion of the door. Chains reached from all parts of the door across to the lock. When the key was turned, the chains all became slack. The mechanism that the lock was composed of spun around in a circle once clockwise. Then the chains and mechanism dropped to the ground, allowing the door to open outward.

Inside was a brightly lit, domed room at the center of which was a pool of bubbling magma. The group walked in cautiously and started making their way around the pool of magma to the door on the other side. When they were within feet of the other door, the one they'd entered through slammed shut.

Link was dropped to the ground as Lloyd and Genis spun around with the girls to see what happened. Standing in front of them was the burned out husk of a lizard like creature and in its burned claw was its bashed up head.

"What is that thing?" asked Lloyd, unsheathing his swords.

"More importantly," said Genis, "how is it standing?"

The lizard's broken jaw opened, as if to screech at the, but without any lungs, nothing came out. The zombie lizard then turned and jumped into the magma as if jumping into a pool of water. Lloyd and Genis looked at each other curiously while Zelda and Raine did the same.

Moments later, the ground began to shake. Dust fell from the ceiling. The magma started bubbling even more. It roiled around and began splashing up and down, like huge rocks were being tossed into it.

From that chaos rose a giant diamond. But it wasn't just one diamond. Several giant diamonds rose at the same time, held together by some unearthly force. The diamonds eventually took the form of a large diamond dinosaur.

The creature's head was made of red hot diamonds, the arms ended in huge claws that could reach across the entire room, and the diamonds that were the hottest went back down into the magma where it seemed to be mounted.

In the center of the skull diamond was the remains of that lizard. The diamond jaws opened up and let loose a roar so loud that more dust fell from the ceiling and the group fell over.

"Holy cow," shouted Lloyd when he could hear himself speaking again. "That thing is huge!"

"Lloyd," said Raine. He looked over to his teacher to see her pulling on the Diamond Gloves again. "I need you and Genis to work with me so that we can defeat this thing."

"Sis, are you insane?" shouted Genis. "We can't beat something that big!"

"Genis," admonished his sister, "don't forget your thermo-dynamics. What happens to hot things when they're exposed to extreme cold temperatures?"

"Oh… Raine you're a genius!" Raine smiled and nodded.

"What happens?" Lloyd asked.

"Later, Lloyd," said Raine. "I need you two to get that things head within striking distance so that I can smash that lizard out of there. Then maybe we can beat this thing. Princess, can you please move Link so that he isn't in danger." Zelda nodded. "Good. All of you, be careful, those diamonds are red hot from sitting in the magma."

"Got it," they all said.

"Zelos!" Sheena slapped the red-head chosen after his seventh attempt at groping her bum. "Keep your dirty hands to yourself!"

"Ow!" cried Zelos. "Sorry, Sheena."

"I highly doubt that," she said. "Keep away from me or I'll send Corrin after you!"

"Do you think I'm afraid of that little rat?"

"Hey," squeaked Corrin. He appeared on Sheena's shoulder, already glaring at Zelos. "I maybe small, but I can still take you on."

"Oh yeah?" asked Zelos.

"Yeah!" squeaked Corrin.

"Quiet!" Kratos whispered. It might as well have been a lion's roar. The quarrelling humans fell silent immediately. Corrin yipped and disappeared in a flash. "We're here."

Kratos walked up to a wall quiet as death and pressed his ear to it. For several second he simply stood there and listened with his eyes closed. Sheena and Zelos looked at each other uncertainly and then back at Kratos.

"There's at least twenty… no thirty in the next chamber," Kratos said, breaking the paper-thin silence. "They are doing something important enough for them to be reporting back to their leader every few minutes. Whoever that leader is no doubt is aware that his troops stationed on the other end of the warp pad are now dead. They'll be expecting us."

"Do you think they know about this path?" Sheena asked.

"Not yet," said Kratos. "Prepare for battle. I will engage the main force while you two will take out the stragglers."

"Hey," said Zelos indignantly, "we aren't pushovers you know."

"Do you want to take on thirty Desians at once?" Zelos and Sheena quickly shook their heads. "That's what I thought. Now, the path will curve around another bend, at the end of which the cavern will come into sight and we'll be able to see them, and them us. At that time, I need you to create some kind of distraction while I slip into their numbers. It should only take a few seconds, but for that time, you'll be vulnerable. Do you think you can accomplish this?"

"Of course," scoffed Zelos. "If there's anything I am good at, it's distracting people from their purposes."

"You can say that again," grumbled Sheena. "Don't worry Kratos, you'll have your distraction, I have a few Guardians that I can use to engage them with."

"Good," said the mercenary.

The three took off down the old tunnel, following the curve just as Kratos had said. When they reached the bend in the tunnel, by which time they could hear the voices of many, many people, Kratos stopped and signaled to the other two. Sheena nodded and Zelos saluted. Both ran into the next part of the tunnel at the same time, Sheena with her Mana-infused cards drawn and Zelos with his sword and shield at the ready.

The Desians didn't notice them immediately, and by time they did, Sheena had already summoned one of her Guardians. They stared for several seconds before they all charged forward, ready to take on these fools who would dare defy the Desians.

After taking out three of the enemy soldiers, Kratos suddenly appeared in the center of their throng and started casting a spell. White Mana bubbles floated all around him. The Desians stopped as a group and not one of them blinked before Kratos spoke.

"Sacred Powers, cast your purifying light upon these corrupt souls. Rest in peace, Sinners! Judgement!" Out of no where in particular and everywhere at once, huge beams of white light filled Efreet's cavern. They carved huge swaths of space into the Desian ranks, burning away their bodies with the intensity of the light.

Sheena and Zelos had to shield their eyes. When the light faded, they lowered their hands to assess the situation. The only thing left standing was Efreet's summoning alter and Kratos.

Zelos had to pick his jaw up off of the ground. "I've got to say, Old Man, that was quite impressive."

"Heh." Kratos sheathed his sword. Then he turned and walked toward the summoning alter. Sheena and Zelos looked at each other, shocked and yet not quite surprised. They moved into the room to find Kratos stooped in front of a strange device hooked up to the alter.

"What kind of machine is that?" asked Sheena. Wires of all kinds were going this way and that. Instruments were beeping and blinking. "I've never seen one hooked up to a summoning alter."

"That's because research was suspended when the Mana-links were threatened by it several hundred years ago," explained Kratos.

"I'm not even going to ask," muttered Sheena.

-Ksshhhk- "Hello? Report! Dammit Lieutenant, report! Has the Mana extraction gone according to plan?"

Kratos walked over to the discarded communications device laying on the floor and picked it up. "The status of the machine is not good," he said.

"Why? What has happened? Has the Mana run dry already?" asked the person on the other side. Kratos turned around and launched a volley of fireballs at the machine. The flaming projectiles slammed into the computer causing it to explode in a shower of sparks.

"The machine is now broken. It did not comply with my fireball's demands," Kratos said seriously.

"… Who is this? What's your operation ID?" Kratos casually tossed the com-unit to the floor and stepped on it.

"Let me guess," said Zelos, "it was a boring conversation?"

"Quite," replied Kratos. "Let us summon Efreet."

"Hold on," Sheena said, holding her hand. "What is that thing?!"

Kratos sighed. "That is a Mana siphoning device. It was siphoning off the Mana under the control of the Summon Spirit Efreet. No doubt for one nefarious deed or another. Either way, it doesn't stop us from accomplishing our own goals."

"Alright…" Sheena said reluctantly. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and then stepped up to the altar. Mana began gathering like an avalanche. Soon there was so much of the red energy floating around in the room that it looked like a mist. Then all of that mist sucked into one single point and from that point appeared the red demonic form of Efreet, Ruler of Hellfire.

"You who possess the right of the pact," Efreet rumbled, "I am one who is bound to Mithos."

"I am Sheena. I seek a pact with Efreet," Sheena said tentatively.

"I cannot."

"W-what?" she stammered. "But why?!"

"I am bound by a pact," said the red giant, "I can not form two pacts at the same time."

"Sheena, simply ask him to cancel the old pact," Kratos said. "I am quite sure that the previous pact maker has broken his vow."

"How can you be sure?" asked Sheena. Kratos stared at her, not bothering to answer her question. "Okay, I'll try…" Sheena faced Efreet once again. "Efreet, I am Sheena. I ask that thou annulst they pact with Mithos and establish a new pact… with me."

"In order to create a new pact," explained Efreet, "the pact maker must be tested. Are you ready?"

Sheena looked back at Kratos and Zelos, both of whom nodded. Sheena then turned back and said, "I am."

Efreet extended his arms outward, as if he were stretching in preparation for a good time. "Then let this test commence."

- - - Hyrule - - -

Lord Agahnim, formerly known at Lord Yggdrasill, stood at the top of his new throne platform built on Derris Kharlan. Soon, so very soon, he'd have all the pieces of the Triforce. And then he'd become ruler of all. He'd reshape the universe in his own image and never again would any stand against him.

Within the recesses of the demented Lord's mind, was the trapped essence of Mithos Yggdrasill. Long since given up trying to escape, Mithos was now contemplating what he was going to do if this wacko succeeded. At this rate, his age of lifeless beings was down the drain and his sister was as good as dead. He might as well have been bashing his head into a brick wall for the past four thousand years.

"I see you're having some fun without me…" drolled the wispy shadow. It appeared within the mindscape of the captured Mithos and confronted the image of the young boy. "Why so down? After all, you now have more power than you could have possibly imagined before."

"I didn't want power," spat the young Yggdrasill. "I just wanted my sister back."

"If that's what you want, then why didn't you ask? I've recently been monitoring my plan for removing your sister's soul from the Great Seed. It shouldn't be long now until her new body is complete. I believe it was the last one you had prepped on those forsaken worlds I left behind."

"You…" Mithos dared to hope. "You would give me my sister back?"

"Of course," said the shadow sweetly. "Why would I want to harm my greatest achievement?"

"Your… greatest achievement… What are you talking about?"

"Your sister, of course. She's the key to my plan. Once she's in physical form, I can finally enact my plan and take control of the greatest force this universe has ever seen."

"As long as I get my sister back," said Mithos, "I don't care what you do. But if you harm one holy molecule of her being, I will rip you to pieces so many ways that even your soul won't remember what happened."

"My dear, dear Mithos," Agahnim sighed. "What ever made you think you had any control over what I do?" Mithos just glared at the shadow spirit. "Regardless of what you may think yourself capable of, the corruption of the lands of this world of Hyrule is great enough to pull out the chosen one. This "hero" should show up sooner or later. When he does, I'll then have two pieces of the powerful Triforce. And it won't be long before I track down where the final and third piece is. Mwaaa hahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaa!"

* * *

Wow, that was a freaking long chapter. Sixteen pages! Wow…

**Link**: "I can't believe I lost to that arrogant jerk…"

**Dark Link**: "Well of course you did, stupid. You're weak. And I'm strong. The outcome was very predictable."

**Link**: "Oh yeah, just you wait until the rematch!"

**Dark ****Link**: "Yeah, during which time, I get to become even stronger, and you even weaker. Ha!"

**Link**: "Grr…"

Okay you two, settle down. Now, I just wanted to say that this chapter could have easily fit into two pieces. But I didn't want to make this part so long. So here it is, the majority of the dungeon. So, please review and let me know what you think!

**Link**: "And thanks for reading!"


	15. Diamond Tyrano in the Triet Ruins

Wow! Twelve reviews! Amazing! Granted, they weren't all for the same chapter, but that's alright because any review is a good review! Link!

**Link**: "What?!"

What's gotten into you?

**Dark Link**: "He's just being a big baby. Loser."

**Link**: "I am not!!"

Okay… well in that case, while Link's off sulking in a corner-

**Link**: "I am not sulking!"

I'm going to have Dark Link-

**Dark Link**: "Ahem…"

Err… I mean Ubella name the reviewers and say the disclaimer.

**Ubella**: (Poof) "What the… Where the hell am I?"

**Link**: "Who's she?"

**Ubella**: "Ugh, not another Hylian! Even in the afterlife I'm confronted with this slime!"

**Dark Link**: "Hey there cutie!"

**Ubella**: "Wha- Get the hell off me!" (Smack)

**Dark Link**: (Now with great big red hand print on his face.) "Ooh, feisty, I like that."

**Ubella**: "I think I'm going to be sick."

Ugh… I think I made the situation worse… _**Zoray Zorial**_,_**mandrakefunnyjuice**_, _**Canada Cowboy**_,_**Jenova Remnant AKA Fishie**_, _**Rini Tsukino**_, _**freakyanimegal456**_, _**Poet Bucky**_ (She posted 5, count 'em, five reviews and read the entire story in one day! Thanks _**Bucky**_!), and _**Amekoryuu**_, thank you for taking the time to read and review this most humble of author's stories. Ubella, please say the disclaimer. (Uses puppy dog eyes attack against Ubella.)

**Ubella**: "Why should I… … Fine… stupid puppy dogs… I.K.A. Valian does not own The Legend of Zelda or Tales of Symphonia, just plot changes and new characters."

Thank you, now, on to the story.

* * *

- - - Sylvarant - - -

Efreet fell to the ground in a cloud of dust. Sheena had delivered the final blow with a pyre seal to the face. The female ninja in question landed next to her handy work seconds later with a grin on her face.

"Impressive," Efreet said from his back. "I had not expected such ferocity from a small human."

"You should see how ferocious she can be when-mmph!" Sheena let her arm drop after flinging a Mana card across the room and onto Zelos face, sealing his mouth shut. Zelos reached up and tried to pry the rice paper card off. The card was like steel until Sheena retracted the Mana from it.

Efreet floated into the air and crossed his arms. "State your vow," he said with a nod. Sheena nervously approached the altar and cleared her throat.

With an uncertain look on her face and her hands clenched into tight fists, Sheena said, "In order to stabilize the world so that everyone might live in peace."

"Very well," said the Red Giant. "Pact Maker, In accordance with your vow, you must be informed that the link between the worlds has been removed. If it is not replaced soon, then both Sylvarant and Tethe'alla will implode." Without further speaking, Efreet's body began fading. Glowing red particles left behind from his departure gravitated to a spot directly in front of Sheena. From those glowing particles a ring formed with a Garnet gem embedded in it.

Sheena plucked the ring from the air and stared at it rolling around in her palm. Kratos walked over to the warp pad and started fiddling with it. Meanwhile Zelos walked up to Sheena, motioning toward his mouth, where the Mana card still held strong. The ninja sighed, reached out, and grabbed one end of the card. The rice paper immediately went limp, revealing a content smile on Zelos' face.

"Thank you, my lovely hunny," Zelos said, pouring on his syrupy charm.

"Whatever, Zelos," Sheena sighed and walked away.

Kratos stood up from the warp pad and faced the other two. "The warp pad is now activated. We may use it to return to the entrance."

"Shucks," said Zelos, faking disappointment, "and here I was all ready to trek back through that long, long, long-" Sheena grunted and pushed Zelos onto the warp pad, happily watching him disappear.

"You're next," said the mercenary. Sheena nodded and stepped onto the platform, but nothing happened. "What's wrong?" she asked Kratos. He bent over and tapped the edge of the pad a few times. Then he stood up and kicked it. With a sudden whirring, the warp came to life and Sheena disappeared.

Kratos stepped onto the pad, took in a deep breath, and let it out as a deep, soulful sigh. "I hate technology."

Raine fell to the ground, asleep even before she hit the dusty surface of the magma chamber.

"Raine!" shouted Genis. He ran toward his sister as fast as he could, abandoning the ice spell he'd been working on. His fears grew when the great diamond monster raised its clawed fist into the air in preparation to smash the poor unconscious half-elf. "No! Raine!"

Just in time though, Lloyd swiftly ran underneath the balled up claw and grabbed onto Raine. Unable to lift his teacher, Lloyd fell and the two of them tumbled across the ground. Fortune smiled on them when the falling fist made of diamond slammed down only millimeters from Lloyd's head.

He stared at the crystalline claw, stunned and immobile as his imagination played out the scene that could have happened. Genis ran up to the both of them and skidded to a stop.

"Lloyd, Sis, are you alright?!" he shouted.

Lloyd gathered his wits and nodded. They both looked down at Raine just as she let out a long, loud snore. "She's out cold," said Lloyd. He reached over and pulled the Diamond Gloves off of Raine's hands. "The gloves must have used up all her Mana, just like Link."

"Oh no," moaned Genis, "I hope she's going to be okay."

Across the chamber, Zelda stood with her hands extended on either side of her at shoulder height. "And let their power flow forth," she said, finishing the incantation, "FrostMreos!" Swinging her arms forward so that both palms were facing away from each other and the backs of both hands were touching, the Princess closed her eyes as the spell activated.

The first thing that happened was the magma in which the diamond monster was mounted, solidified, causing the monster to freak out. Then the ground frosted over with the white of snow several inches deep. The casting complete, Zelda started making her way toward where the boys were hovering around Raine.

Lloyd and Genis watched silently, amazed by the strange cold substance that they'd never seen before. The diamond monster itself, though still disturbed by the lack of mobility beneath him, also looked around in wonder.

One by one, the ice crystals floated into the air off of the floor. At first it looked like a strange mist. It didn't take long for that to escalate into a full fledged blizzard.

The snow howled around the room with gale force winds. The curvature of the room caused a tornado of ice and snow to form, centered on the diamond monster.

The monster wailed and flailed as it was bombarded by ice crystals. Its surface had cooled somewhat due to the magma below being solidified, but it was still warm enough for this indoor blizzard to crack many of its body parts.

When the spidery web of cracks stretched their spiny fingers across the skull, the monster roared loudly. Then it lifted its diamond fists into the air and slammed them down onto the ground, breaking up the solidified crust to allow magma to flow once more around its base.

"Hurry," shouted Zelda as she ran toward the boys, "Move Raine out of the monsters range." The boy's nodded and began the process of picking Raine up, dragging her to the edge of the battle field, and laying her down in a spot where the diamond monster couldn't reach her.

Meanwhile, the diamond monster turned its attention on to Zelda, attempting to smash her with its massive claws as she ran around the beast. Zelda kept using her magic to push herself faster and faster, augmenting her speed in short bursts just as the huge claw came down.

"Genis, stay here," Lloyd ordered. He left Genis holding Raine at the side of the chamber and ran toward the giant diamond lizard full tilt while tugging the silvery Diamond gloves over his own red ones. The silvery Mythril covered the Exsphere on right hand just as it began to glow brightly with an unearthly green-blue light.

"Lloyd!" shouted Genis. "No wait! Lloyd!"

But it was too late. Lloyd was already too far away to be heard over the rumbling caused by the lizard slamming its fist down. Genis cursed under his breath as he made sure his sister was comfortable beside the zonked out Link. Then the little half-elf jumped up and ran after his best friend.

Zelda breathed deeply and quickly, quickly reaching her limits. Concentrating on using controlled bursts of magic, while focusing where that magic went, while focusing her mind on her surroundings, while running, while dodging debris, while worrying about her dress slowing her down was not easy, even on the best of days. So her muscles and fatigued mind screamed in terrified joy when Zelda tripped and fell to the ground.

She barely had time to think before she could hear the customary "whoosh" of the diamond claw. Still too exhausted to move, she watched the enormous red diamond descend toward her.

"Tempest!" Lloyd appeared out of nowhere, slashing at the diamond claw like mad. The piece fell to the ground next to the princess, who stared at it wide eyed, not sure if she believed her eyes. Did Lloyd just cut through solid diamond with wooden sticks?!

The Diamond Dino retracted its arm, snarling and roaring in pain. Lloyd landed from his mid-air attack next to the princess. "Princess," he said, "Do you think you can cast that spell you did before again? If you can freeze that lava again, I can run up and attack it at the base."

"I'm… sorry," she said, standing up. "I used up a lot of my magic running. I don't have enough left."

"Lloyd!" shouted Genis as he ran up. "Thank goodness you're okay!" The little mage looked back at the writhing monster. "Oh no, it's coming back!"

"Don't worry," said Lloyd, "I have a plan. I'm going to keep the monster monster's attention while you two work on that spell. Princess, I know you can do it. You too, Genis!"

Just then, the monster let loose another roar, now very angry at the loss of its limb. It reared back in preparation to smash the grouping of small fleshlings. Without waiting for a response, Lloyd took off running away from Zelda and Genis.

"He certainly is brave," said the Princess.

"I just hope he doesn't get himself killed," said Genis. The two watched Lloyd draw the monsters attention away from them. When the monster attempted to smash Lloyd, he crossed his swords over his head and caught the diamond claw, stopping it mere inches above his head.

"He cannot keep this up forever," said Zelda as she stood up. "Either he will run out of luck or the gloves will put him to sleep."

"But what can we do?" Genis asked, his voice trembling with concern and fear.

"I will attempt to teach you the spell I used just a moment ago," said Zelda seriously. "We do not have much time, so you'd better pay close attention."

Genis nodded, now serious. "Right!"

Across the room, Lloyd dodged out of the way of the incoming red hot claw. The monster had decided that since he couldn't crush Lloyd, he'd melt him with lava. Lloyd barely managed to evade the first of such attacks and was now dodging left and right as the lizard continued to pound at the boy like a jackhammer.

Lloyd kept dodging until the final hammer blow knocked Lloyd to the ground. "Ahh!" he screamed. His leg had just caught on fire and lost all feeling in less than a few seconds. When he looked back at his paralyzed right leg, he cringed. Though he couldn't feel it, the entire thing was charge black from just grazing the red hot diamond claw.

The diamond Lizard roared in triumph and brought its hand down again. Lloyd gritted his teeth, forced through the pain to turn around, and punched the incoming claw. The entire claw and the arm attached to it exploded into fine dust particles.

Taking the small reprieve that the now very distracted lizard was giving him, Lloyd reached into his sack and pulled out all the gels that he could find. Fourteen apple gels and three orange gels. Without thinking about it, Lloyd down all of them as fast as he could. Immediately, he scrunched up his face as he felt the bones and sinews reformed.

Across the room, Zelda was standing with her arms outstretched. "Stretch your arms out and repeat what I say, word for word, inflection for inflection. When the spell takes over your words, don't fight it. Just let it play out."

"Got it," said Genis. "Though I've never heard of a spell like this before. Let's do it!"

Zelda took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Powers above, powers below, powers of all those in between."

"Powers above, powers below, powers of all those in between," repeated Genis.

"Release the one bound by fate, the one who howls in the north."

"Release the one bound by fate, the one who howls in the north." Genis frowned a little.

"Don't fight it Genis," said Zelda, dropping her arms, "let the words flow."

"Life and Death, Light and Dark, Powers of North and South combined," the boy said. He looked disgruntled as he let the alien words form in his mouth. "Winds from the East, Gales from the West, Howl through the Night and release the ones bound. Let freeze the souls of those who bind and shatter through strikes of the Dark One. Let them come, unbound from the Deep by the powers provoked. And let their power flow forth!" Genis, rather than swinging his hands forward, spun around and punched the air in front of him. "Frostmire!"

Once again, the air temperature dropped and the magma in the center of the room solidified. Lloyd was up and limping forward, his gait improving slowly as the gels took effect, almost as soon as the snow appeared. However, he didn't make it far before the wind picked up.

That's where the similarities between the two spell ended. Instead of spinning around the chamber as before, creating an indoor blizzard, the small particles of snow clumped together until large boulders of pact ice were flying around the diamond monster like asteroids around a star.

The orbits of the flying ice balls decayed, getting smaller, closer and faster until, BAM! The ice collided with the diamonds with the force of a freight train going full speed. The diamonds, still red hot from the attacks on Lloyd, shattered instantly.

The remnants of the skull diamond slammed into the ground directly in front of Lloyd. He arched an eyebrow, watching the Lizalfo head still trapped inside of the diamond looking around with its eyes frantically.

"Just die already," Lloyd said wearily. He clenched his fist and punched the diamond as hard as he could. The Lizalfo screeched as Lloyds' fist connected with the diamond and then, just as the caw did, the diamond skull disintegrated along with the remnants of the Lizalfo.

Satisfied and completely exhausted, Lloyd pulled the glowing silver gloves off. Zelda and Genis walked up to him several minutes later, the princess helping Genis walk.

"You look like I feel," laughed Lloyd, smiling like an idiot.

Genis smiled right back in a very similar fashion. "Well you don't look so good either, Lloyd." Both boys laughed. Their endorphin induced humor even dragged the princess into their laughing bout. They laughed long and hard, happy their troubles were finally over.

"Sir, I've found one of the bodies."

A short man walked forward, his features hidden by the darkness and the shadows within the fire lit halls of the crypt above Efreet's chamber. "Is it another one of ours," he asked quietly. The black clad Desian stood up and faced the shorter man.

"Yes, sir," he reported, "it appears that a stab wound to the heart was the cause of death, just like all the other ones. As well as severe cuts and gashes on the chest and back. Whoever did this to our men was a professional swordsman."

"I see," the shadow swathed man said. He turned and continued down the pathway. "Head for the Warp room, I'm sure that is where we'll find them."

"Yes sir!" said ten or so men as they saluted. Their black Desian uniforms camouflaging them almost completely. The only proof they were there was the sound of their boots snapping onto the ground in cadence.

"Ugh," groaned Link as he sat up. "What hit me?"

"Link! You're awake." Link looked to his left and saw Zelda getting up. "You've been asleep for so long."

"I'm fine, princess," he said as she kneeled down in front of him. "I don't know why I fell asleep though, it was like all my energy had been sucked out of me." Zelda held up the silvery gloves he'd found deep in the dungeon.

"These gloves drain magic while they're worn," she explained. "You had them on for so long that you simply didn't have any energy left. The same thing happened to Raine."

"Raine?" The princess pointed to the right. Link looked and saw Raine sleeping blissfully on the dusty ground, curled up into the fetal position. Lloyd was sitting next to her with his back against the wall. He was asleep too.

Genis looked up from his position on the other side of Lloyd. "Link, you're awake!" He stood up, dusted himself off, and walked to stand next to Zelda. "It took you long enough. You know, you have the worst timing. We could have used your help beating that diamond monster."

"Diamond monster?" asked Link. "You mean there was another monster that you had to beat? I'm glad you guys are all right."

"It was a group effort," said Genis. "We couldn't have done it if we hadn't worked together. We make a good team."

"It was a struggle, but we pulled through," said Zelda, summing the fight up. "Not one that I'd want to repeat any time soon." Genis nodded in whole hearted agreement.

"So, what kind of monster was it?" asked Link.

"It was some kind of giant lizard," said Genis.

"It appeared to resemble a Lizalfo," said Zelda, "one of those lizard warriors that roam Hyrule. How it ended up here, I've no idea."

"A Lizalfo?" Link asked curiously. "Did it look like a burned out husk without a head?"

"Yeah," said Genis suspiciously. "How did you know? You were asleep."

Link grinned mischievously. "I have ways of knowing things," he said mystically.

Genis laughed. "Of course you do, Link. Well, now that you're awake, it shouldn't be too long before the others wake up as well."

"Yes," said Zelda. "Then perhaps we can acquire the next piece of the Proto-Triforce." Link paled at the mention of the powerful object. Zelda noticed his change in skin tone and grew worried. "Link, what is it? Link, are you alright?"

"Yeah, Link," said Genis, "You look kind of pale."

"I… uh…" Link cleared his throat. "I kind of… lost the piece that I was carrying?"

"You what?!" they both shouted at the same time. Link winced, having expected this kind of reaction. "Link, please tell me that you're joking," Zelda pleaded. Link slowly shook his head, letting it sink into his chest with a sigh.

"Sorry, princess, I know that it was important, but that Dark Link stole it from me." Then, upon remembering what the shadow guardian said, Link looked up hopefully. "That shadow guy did say though that I would get a chance to get it back from him. Maybe at the next place where there is a piece of the Proto-Triforce."

"I hope you're right," said Zelda. "If we don't get back all the pieces of the Proto-Triforce, we'll have no hope of sealing Agahnim or possibly getting home."

"Mmm," Raine blinked a few times and pushed herself into a sitting position.

"Raine!" Genis was quickly at his sister's side, watching her like a hawk. "Raine, are you okay?"

Raine looked down at her brother and yawned. "Yes, Genis, I'm fine," she said tiredly. "What happened to the monster?"

"Genis says that he, Lloyd, and Zelda defeated it," said Link.

"Oh," Raine exclaimed, "Link, you're awake." Link nodded.

"Link's awake?" Lloyd shook his head and blinked a few times. "It's about time. I was tired of carrying him everywhere," he said through a yawn.

"Now that everyone is awake," said Zelda, "we should move on to the next room." The princess stood up and walked a little bit into the chamber. "I believe I saw a door over there that might be our way out of here."

"It might lead to the Proto-Triforce," Link said as he stood and stretched. "At least that's where it led in the last dungeon."

"I hope there aren't any more dark spirits hiding in this piece," Genis said.

The group walked to the other side of the large, hot, dark chamber. There they came upon a huge iron door. "How do we open it?" asked Lloyd. As if hearing the question, the door rumbled slightly, casting eon's of dust from its surface, and glided upward as smoothly as the day it was forged. "I guess we don't," observed Zelda.

Past the door was another tunnel, this one devoid of any diamonds sticking out of the walls, ceiling, or floor like all the other tunnels. In their place were inscriptions, just like in the dungeon below the Martel Temple. Raine paused at one point and asked Zelda to translate again.

"It's another mantra, like before. This one says, 'The Siren of the deep calls on weary sailors so that they be damned to walk the world in the mists of eternity.' It's almost like its describing a person rather than a place." Zelda stepped back from the wall, letting Raine take center stage again.

"Hmm, this one is a little tricky," she said.

"Professor, what is a Siren?" Lloyd asked.

"A Siren is a creature that sings a sweet song so alluring that any passing mortal can't help but drop everything and heed to their beck and call. Usually, sailors are targeted by these creatures and once they've heard the siren's song, they're never heard from again. What's strange about this is that there are no land marks like in the last one."

"Well… maybe the next place isn't on land," suggested Lloyd. Then, after thinking about it, Lloyd shook his head. "No, that can't be right. Can it?" He looked at Raine for an answer, but she was standing still, her eyes getting wider and wider.

"Lloyd!" The boy jumped in surprise. "You're a genius! The next piece of the Proto-Triforce doesn't have a land mark because there are no land marks, or because the land mark isn't related to land at all, but water. I always knew you had it in you, Lloyd!"

"I think it was just dumb luck," mumbled Genis.

"Hey," said Lloyd defensively. "Anyway, now that we know that it isn't on land, where is it?"

"That's the problem," said Raine. "We don't have accurate records of where the Seal of Water, the only place on land associated with water, is. The only possible source would be the Book of Regeneration that details the journey of Spiritua on her journey to seal the Desians. But that's in Palmacosta under the protection of the Governor-General."

Lloyd sighed. "So you're saying we have to go to this Palmacosta place to find out where the Water Seal is?"

"I'm afraid so," said Raine. "It's not like we have much other choice."

"Right now, though," interjected Zelda, "we should focus on retrieving the piece of the Proto-Triforce and escaping this place. I think it is unlikely that we'll be able to leave the way we came in."

"I guess you're right," said Lloyd. "Damn. Hang on Colette, we're coming as fast as we can."

"I'm worried about her too," said Genis.

"We all are," said Raine. "Let us forge ahead and find all these pieces as fast as we can."

"Colette," said Lloyd, "I swear I'll save you. Where ever you are, I'll find you and bring you home." Without another word, the group continued down the tunnel and emerged into a room similarly large and circular to the one beneath the Martel Temple. Like before, there were runes everywhere and in the center of the room was a stone pedestal. Floating above this pedestal however was not another black triangle, but a small curved triangle that was shining in a silvery white light.

"What's that?" asked Genis.

"That is what you come seeking, foolish peoples of the surface." Above the floating sliver of metal appeared the shadow guardian. He leered down at the five below him with contempt. "Why do you come to this place? You've doomed us all by now. Leave here and wait in peace for the end. Stupid!"

"We can't leave," said Zelda. "We must find this Spell of Before so that we may travel home to Hyrule. And we must collect the pieces of the Proto-Triforce so that we may seal Agahnim once again."

"Yeah," agreed Lloyd. "And we need to save Colette from Agahnim so we also need the Proto-Triforce for that as well."

"So… here before me stands the saviors of our universe. Is that what you're saying?" jeered the shadow. It floated down to hover in front of the pedestal. "You are all worthless idiots. You let loose that which you were supposed to destroy! And now he rapes the virgins of the universe! Her dress ripped to shreds… Boo hoo! NO! You can't! Not allowed! You are all stupid!"

"I understand that you've been in here for a long, long time," said Zelda. "But if you don't help us, then we are all doomed, you as well. Please," she pleaded, "do your part and help us."

"No! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! You want me to help you chase the chickens from the yard! No, no, no! Rather rain nor falling milk of a mongoose! I will not _help_ the likes of you!"

"If you won't help us," said Lloyd, "then stay out of our way. We have to save one of our friends and we won't let anything stop us!"

The shadow froze and turned to look at Lloyd. "You are like the first traveler," said the shadow, "you have clouds in your head and carry the war drum." Lloyd gave the shadow guardian a lopsided look of confusion.

"Arium!" The shadow froze, visibly shivering as it hovered in front of the pedestal. Everyone was watching the shadow, waiting for it to do something and wary of its sudden shift in behavior. Everyone except Link. He froze up in the back of the group at the same time as the shadow did. Only they could hear the deep, deep, booming voice. "Arium, do you not see that destiny has chosen for the Holy Relic to reside in the boy? He has proven himself in the test your traps provided. Now the Holy Relic has awakened and accepted him as its wielder! Do you truly wish to stand in its way?"

The shadow, Arium, shifted his point of view, rising higher into the room to look at the group as a whole. "Alright, boy, then that means you are chosen by the gods to save us all."

Lloyd's eyes widened in surprise. "Me?!" he asked.

"No," said the Arium.

"Me?" asked Genis.

"Grr… No!"

"Link?" asked Zelda. "You mean the gods have chosen Link to defeat Agahnim and restore everything back to order?"

"He knows of what I speak," said the shadow, "for he bears the Holy Relic!"

"What Holy Relic?" asked Raine.

"Look at his left hand," said Arium cryptically.

Everyone turned to Link, who had his left hand stuffed into his pocket. He did so as soon as he realized what was going on several moments before. Now, with everyone staring at him questioningly, he broke out into a cold sweat.

"Come on, Link," said Raine, in a rather sadistic voice, "show us this Holy Relic!"

Reluctantly, Link pulled his left hand out of his pocket and held it up in the air for everyone to see. They all gasped, except for Zelda, who was wearing a knowing grin on her face.

"So you see," said Arium the guardian, "this young boy wields the Holy Relic of the Goddesses Three, the Triforce of Courage. One piece of the three piece Triforce. It is he who will ultimately defeat the evil that has befallen both our worlds."

"Link," said Genis breathlessly. "That's amazing!"

"Wow," said Lloyd, "awesome! It's got to be awesome to be the hero! To go out, defeat evil, save princesses. I wish I was a hero!"

"Lloyd, you wouldn't last more than three minutes without getting bored," said Genis.

"Hey!"

"Enough of this chitty chatty bang bang!" shouted the shadow. "You must take this piece of the Proto-Triforce, receive the piece of the Spell of Before, and hurry on to the next resting place of the next piece. Or do you really want to dawdle here to wait for your hair to grow long and your teeth to fall yellow to the ground?"

"But that doesn't look anything like the black triangle we found before," said Lloyd.

"You are stupid head, yes? The Proto-Triforce is composed of three triangles, the triangle of Humanitas, Angelus, and Demonkin, as well as the Crescent Moons of High Heaven, Midgard, and Hellinast. Together, they form the Proto-Triforce. Now hurry, no time, no time. Go and hurry! Now! Take it now!" Arium swiftly floated behind Link, picked him up, and threw him at the pedestal. He landed on the piece of the Proto-Triforce and then fell to the floor with the silvery sliver in his palm.

The runes on the floor all glowed an unearthly red, rose into the air, and started flying around madly. After several minutes of this, Zelda, Link, Raine, Genis, and Lloyd vanished without a trace. Alone in the room, Arium was humming happily to himself.

"Methinks it won't be like last time," he said to happily to himself. "Maybe the rubbish brains will think of it like a cold ice storm on a tropical island… ahhh…"

Lloyd appeared first, followed by Genis, Raine, Zelda, and finally, Link. They appeared within the room with the warp pad. The stone archway that led into the dungeon was sealed once more, appearing as the wall it had before Link touched it and opened it.

"Lloyd?!" The twin swordsman turned around and came face to face, or face to chest, with Kratos. "What are you doing here?"

"Kratos!" shouted Lloyd. He jumped back and drew his swords. "That's exactly what I would like to know?" Link and the others joined Lloyd with their respective weapons at the ready.

"Hey, who's the kid?" asked Zelos, his head popping up over Kratos shoulder.

"He is a friend of Sylvarant's Chosen," explained Kratos. "Though what he and his friends are doing here in the Fire seal is what I want to know."

"It's none of your business," said Genis. "It's not like we'd tell the one who gave Colette to Agahnim anything!"

"You say that I gave her to Agahnim?" asked Kratos, curiously disturbed, though effectively masking it by appearing to insult Genis' intelligence.

"Enough of this," said Zelda. "This bickering is pointless."

"Agreed," said Kratos.

"Let's just tell them," said Sheena, "It's not like it's a big secret or anything."

"And our goal is not something to be kept secret either," agreed Raine. "We are attempting to save the world."

"Nuh, uh," said Zelos, "sorry, but that's what we're doing."

"How do you plan to save the world?" asked Genis.

"That's none of your business, squirt," said Zelos. "Just leave it to us."

"We plan to save the world by finding Colette and bringing down Agahnim," said Lloyd. "Colette is the chosen one after all. She'll be able to fix the world."

"You're understanding of the situation is laughable." Everyone in the room looked around for the person who spoke, and found the source standing in the arched tunnel entrance. Kratos gasped and tensed up, his hand immediately going to his sword.

"Come, come now, Kratos," said the newcomer, "No need for violence."

Kratos grit his teeth and faced the newcomer fully. Then he said one word, with as much venom and hatred as any present had heard in the emotion controlled man's voice since meeting him. He said, "Kvar."

* * *

Oooh, cliffy.

**Ubella**: "I hate cliffhangers."

**Link**: "Haha, too bad. But in all seriousness, I do to. And something about that Kvar guy makes me want to rip his eyeballs out and cut off his tongue."

Well, everyone wants to do that to Kvar. I mean come on, it's Kvar.

**Dark** **Link**: "I'd like to do that to everyone, but apparently, that's just me."

**Ubella**: "I'd help you if it were just those bastard Hylians."

**Link**: "Hey! I'd stop you. After all, I'm the Chosen Hero of the gods!"

**Dark Link**: (Snort) "Ha! You couldn't beat me in a straight up fight and you were passed out cold for the big boss fight. What could possibly make a loser like you think you're some kind of Hero?"

**Link**: "Why I oughta…"

Okay, enough of that. Please review and thanks for reading!


	16. Politics of the Corrupt

And we're back for another exciting chapter of Legend! This time around-

**Link**: "Get off me!"

**Dark** **Link**: "Retard. I don't obey the dirt underneath my feet."

**Link**: "I'm not dirt! And I'm not a retard!"

**Ubella**: "Both of you, shut up!"

**Link**: "Eeep!"

**Dark Link**: (steps off of Link) "Hmph."

Thank you, Ubella.

**Ubella**: "No problem."

This time around, _**Jenova Remnant AKA Fishie**_, _**Infinite Freedom**_, _**freakyanimegal456**_, _**Amekoryuu**_, _**mandrakefunnyjuice**_, _**Canada Cowboy**_, _**frostneko**_ (Who reviewed five times to catch up to chapter 15, so an extra thank you to you, _**frostneko**_), _**eliteforce**_, and _**Rini Tsukino**_ were the reviewers.

**Link**: "Thanks a bunch."

**Ubella**: "Why are we thanking these random strangers every chapter?"

**Link**: "They left a remark on the chapters previous. If not for them, you wouldn't exist."

**Ubella**: "Hmph, I'd still exist, even without their help. They won't be getting my thanks."

**Link**: "Whatever… your funeral."

Dark Link, how about you do the disclaimer?

**Dark** **Link**: (Grumbling darkly about hacking authors to pieces) "Anyone who thinks I.K.A. Valian owns this crap is sorely mistaken. The only pitiful things he does own is this dinky little story line and the stupid characters he made up, except for me. I'm the best, period. And if anyone disagrees, I'll hunt you down and gut you like a fish!"

Eh… err… Dark Link will no longer do the disclaimer. Ever again. On with the story.

* * *

On another note, I would also like to apologize for the delay in the posting of this chapter. This last week included a lot of hectic things, including but not limited to: my Mom going to the hospital and getting her (left) knee replaced, running the house in her place, school, homework, and chores. Anyway, enough of this author babbling.

* * *

- - - Hyrule - - -

They stole into Hyrule Castle like the thieves that they were. They stepped quickly and lightly through the moonless shadows that engulfed the castle grounds. They wore dark grey cloaks that enable them to meld into the darkness as if they were the shadows themselves.

Soon, they happened upon a pair of sentries patrolling along the outside of the inner fence. One of them held a lantern and a spear and the other held just a spear. They both kept their eyes straight ahead, secure in their false notion that no one would dare attempt to infiltrate the castle of Hyrule let alone sit in the shadows next to their route and wait for them to pass.

Once the soldiers were gone, the thieves sprinted quickly across the path, scaled the inner wall, and disappeared into the shadows surrounding the castle. As they ran, the lead thief took note of the guards patrolling on top of the inner castle wall and the frequency of their appearance. The small posse of four stopped once they reached a small drain in the wall. Water poured from the small hole that was just large enough for a moderately small adult to fit through.

In quick succession, the thieves jumped at the drain and wiggled their way into the hole. Upon exiting on the other side within a small fountain pool, the four thieves took off along the wall of the inner court, remaining hidden in the shadows. When they reached the point where the inner wall melded into the castle itself, the four thieves came to a stop.

Above was the balcony attached to Princess Tetra's room. Light shone dully out from the room beyond the curtains separating inside from out. The lead thief nodded toward the other three.

The guards, the same two that had missed the four thieves just moments earlier, entered the inner courtyard, headed for the castle's main hall. They passed the same spot where the four thieves were standing, completely ignoring the shuffling sounds they made as they ascended the wall covered in leafy green vines.

When all four were safely on the balcony, they sprinted to the curtains and then peered into the Princess' room. Cautiously parting the curtains, the lead thief edged into the room. The rest of the thieves followed their leader, each forming one side of a protective circle.

Once they'd made it to the center of the room, they were all fairly certain that there was no one in the room. Like clockwork, they broke formation and began picking up random objects only to quickly stuff them into bags hidden beneath their cloaks.

"Just what do you think you're doing?"

All four thieves jumped and spun around to face whomever it was that stumbled across them. It was, in fact, Princess Tetra herself. She was standing at the door with her arms crossed and a scowled most unbecoming of royalty on her face. Like one, the four thieves unsheathed twin scimitars hidden beneath their cloaks and held them at the ready.

"Oh, so that's how it's going to be," Tetra said sarcastically. She walked the short distance to the wall next to her door and pulled down a pair of katana swords. "If that's the game, bring it on!" shouted the Princess.

The four thieves rushed Tetra all at once. The princess smirked and rushed forward herself. She met the lead thief's blades with her own.

The princess jumped back with the recoil, rolled on her heels, and then rolled forward onto the ground. When her palms were planted firmly on the ground, she did a hand spring. Her feet caught two of the thieves in the face and sent them flying back.

When the princess landed back on her feet, one thief was on her left, the other was on her right. She immediately brought her swords up to point at each thief and kept her vision focused on the thief to her right. The one on her left rushed forward, attempting to cut the royal heir in half vertically.

Tetra took a small step backwards, dropped the sword in her left hand, and dropped the rushing thief with a fist to the face. Tetra and the lead thief started circling. Tetra's eyes never left the cloaked figure just as her smirk had never left her soft features.

Finally, the two stopped circling. Tetra lowered her sword and took a step back. "It looks like you've gained some skill," she said with a warm smile.

"You too, your majesty," said the cloaked thief in a husky feminine voice. "Though you seem to be a bit rusty. These cold walls are not very conducive to keeping your skill up." The thief reached up and pulled back her hood, revealing a thick mane of silky fire red hair, highly tanned skin, and fierce brown eyes. "Honestly, I'm not sure why you left the desert in the first place."

"You know perfectly well why, Natalina," said Tetra as she retrieved her fallen katana from the floor and replaced them on the wall. "Ganondorf attacked and I became the only living person with royal blood left alive. At least… I was the only one still alive."

"What do you mean, Tessa?" asked the Gerudo woman. She went about the room, helping each of her desert comrades into a couch.

Tetra smiled fondly at the childhood name applied to her during her time spent among the people of the desert. "What I mean," she said, "is that I had a nice long chat today with an angel and Sister Ubella."

"Sister Ubella is the reason we're here," explained Natalina. She sat down on the couch next to her comrades while she waited for them to recover. "When we received your message earlier, we were greatly relieved. Nabooru though her lost after the attack at the Market."

"Apparently, she wasn't the only Gerudo that the angel's had captured," Tetra said cryptically, darkly.

"You don't mean…" Natalina said, startled. Tetra nodded seriously. "If they're really powerful enough to capture and imprison the King of Darkness, then what makes you think some old relic can stop them?"

Tetra walked over to the wall and stared up at an ancient manuscript hanging there. Upon it, pictures of the goddesses were swirling around the Triforce. Below that were words in ancient Hylian describing the creation of Hyrule. Below that were more pictures of the goddesses and other objects. The one of most interest to the princess was a large, gnarled wooden staff with rays of light shining all around it.

"It may be old," she finally said, "but it's also powerful. With it we could easily seal those angels into the Dark Realm, along with _him_."

"Fine, fine," Natalina said placatingly. "Now what's this you said about not being the only one of Royal blood anymore? What, did you have some cousin that you never knew about? Are you being forced to marry some Hylian swine? It's not that pig of Baron is it?"

Tetra grew nauseous at the though of marrying that power hungry bastard. "No," she said forcefully, "and thank the Goddesses for that. What I meant is that I found out what happened to my sister."

"Princess." Just then Shix stepped from the shadows and kneeled in front of Tetra. "We've confirmed the data from the paper's I acquired from the Angels." Natalina relaxed, releasing the hilt of her swords. "Greetings to you, lady of the desert," said Shix, nodding toward the Gerudo.

"Every time you do that I have to stop myself from cutting you in half," said the perturbed Gerudo. "How long were you listening on us, oh great and powerful shadow warrior?"

Shix arched an eyebrow at Natalina but didn't respond. His response though could be seen in his eyes, where tales of knowledge unspoken played out. Tetra crossed her arms thoughtfully and sighed.

"If they are true, then that only confirms what Colette said about them," she mused. "That means we don't have much time left before they make their move."

"What in Hyrule are you talking about, Tessa?" asked Natalina, "and who is Colette?"

"Colette is the angel captured by Baron Barker," Tetra said bitterly. "He touts it as more proof that he's got Hyrule's best interests at heart when the only thing he wants is the throne. That along with my head or my hand in marriage. I don't think he can decide which would please him more."

"By your leave, Princess." Tetra nodded and Shix disappeared back into the shadows.

"How does he do that," Natalina wondered idly.

"I'd explain, but you'd be more confused after I finished," said Tetra. "Besides, we have more important things to discuss. I want you to save Colette when you spring Sister Ubella tonight."

Natalina's jaw fell open slightly. "You," she pointed at Tetra, "want me," then she pointed at herself, "to save one of them?" Tetra nodded enthusiastically.

"Here's why," she said.

"Colette?" The blond angel looked up from her lap, through the bars, and to the cell across the thin hallway. How did she end up in jail all the time, anyway? Rutina stood inside of the cell across the way, grasping the bars while staring at her. She looked lethargic, completely drained of all life and energy. Of course, Colette was pretty sure she didn't look any better.

"What is it," she asked.

"What did the Princess talk to you about?" asked the Zora.

Colette sighed. They were bound to ask sooner or later. "At first she wanted to talk about what I knew about the Angels defenses. Then she wanted to know about what I could tell her about the Angels weaknesses. And then…"

"What?" asked Colin. He too was now leaning against the bars of his cell that was to the right of Colette's.

"Then she wanted to know about me. I thought she meant me being a spy and I tried to tell her that you guys weren't involved. But, that wasn't what she wanted. She was actually intent on learning who I was and where I cam from."

"She wasn't interested at all in the fact that you were an Angel?" asked Rutina.

"She was a little. But the princess I was talking to wasn't the same one who sentenced us all to death. It's like she was a completely different person than in the throne room. Almost… sympathetic to my plight."

"Feh, weak Hylian princess couldn't even withstand her vassal," said Ubella with a snort. She was lying down on her bed in her cell to the left of Colette's. "He walked all over the place, ranting and fawning his strength while she just sat there letting him have his way."

"The Princess is in a precarious situation," said Rath. He was sitting quietly on his bed with his back against the wall. "She has no real power here other than in name and heritage only. All of her political power is subject to the wishes of those who follow her. The Baron is the most powerful of those supporting her. I imagine that he's made it quite clear to the Princess that if she goes against him, he'll pull his troops out of the city and leave it defenseless. The fact that Princess Tetra was brought up in the desert with the Gerudo makes the situation even worse for her."

"Are you saying that being brought up among the Gerudo made her weak?" shouted Ubella heatedly.

"Not at all," said Rath calmly. "Because she was brought up among the desert dwellers, everyone in court, including the power brokers who hold her up on a pedestal, watch her suspiciously all the time. If she does anything they don't like, they'll brand her a traitor to the royal line, exile her, and choose a new king or queen for the land. The princess walks a very thin and treacherous line. Weather or not she agrees with what her vassals want, say, or do, she has no say herself in their business save for her title's official duties, and even then, the lords and other elites can easily get around her."

"Wow," said Colin. "How do you know so much, Rath?"

"I know all of this because it is the only situation in which the Princess' actions make any kind of sense," said Rath.

"Oh," Colin said quietly.

"It's not like it matters anyway," said Ubella. "We're all going to be killed once that council shows up anyway. So we might as well stop worrying about everything." Rutina sat on her bed, whimpering slightly at the thought of being killed.

The sudden squealing of the prison door opening made all the kids jump. Rutina jumped every time one of the newcomer's heavy footfalls echoed down the hallway. They each scooted back and away from the bars and all of them, including the guard standing stoically by Colette's cell door, cringed when Baron Baker strutted into view.

"I see that our princess has made the spy and her cohorts comfortable," he said disdainfully.

"Her highness has ordered that they be kept under watch at all times," stated the guard next to Colette's cell.

"How unfortunate it is then that the Angelic spy has killed the guard and escaped with her little traitorous friend," said the Baron with a sick smile. The guard looked incredulously at the fat man grinning into his face. Then he looked down at the knife that was currently sticking out of his chest.

The Baron turned to face Colette as the guard fell to the floor, blood gurgling out of his mouth and nose. He had a sick gleam in his eye as he unlocked her door and swung it open. For a moment, Colette thought she was next. That is until she realized that the Baron wasn't moving toward her with intent to kill, but rather he picked her up and threw her out of the cell. The large man then reached out, pulled the dead guard in on top of himself, and shut the cell door.

"H-how could you?!" shouted Rutina, her voice wavering. Colette watched the fat man spread the dead guard's blood all over his face and arms.

"You despicable slime ball!" shouted Colin.

"Hylian garbage!" added Ubella, grunting as she ground her teeth and

"Monster," Rath growled beneath his breath.

"It's quite simple," said the Baron. "You escape from the royal brat's custody and I gain more favor." He then focused on Colette with his now trademark slimy grin. "I'd run if I were you." Then he laid his head back and took a deep breath. "Help! Help! The prisoner's escaping!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

Almost immediately clinking armor could be heard outside the windows as soldiers reacted to the Baron's call. Colette glared down at the fat man before she turned and wrenched open Rutina's door with naught but brute strength. After doing the same for the others, they fled the prison, leaving a wildly laughing Baron behind them.

- - - Sylvarant - - -

"Lord Yuan!"

"What is it now?" He scowled irritably as he walked toward the computer operator that had called out to him. "It's not another earthquake, is it?"

"I'm not sure," said the operator. "Its energy signature isn't like the others."

Yuan leaned over and watched the energy spike readout grow higher and higher with no signs of slowing down. His scowl turned into one of shock.

"Oh shi-" The entire building began shaking violently. Everyone in the control room fell to the floor, lights exploded, and walls caved in. It wasn't just the Renegade base that was shaking, but all of both worlds. From Meltokio to the Thoda Geyser, the ground shook violently for minutes on end.

When the rumblings slowed to a constant slight tremor, Yuan got back onto his feet. Even with his superior angelic fighting instincts and balance, he was still thrown to the ground along with everyone else. The red emergency lights reflected angrily off of the different consoles and people just now standing up.

"Report!" shouted Yuan.

"Sir," yelled someone from across the room. Even in the dark light, Yuan could easily tell that it was the tall, blond bombshell that was Shelcy, the system operator. Truthfully, he'd put her in that position because she was good at it. The fact that she was easy to look at didn't hurt either

"All systems appear to be intact and unharmed. The reboot will take approximately three minutes," she said, then added, "internal communications are still up though."

"Sir," yelled Com Officer Jestin, "damage reports across the base are coming in. It appears to only be superficial damage. We'll need the computers back online to complete a true assessment. Several staff and refugees have been injured and are being taken to the medical floor; staff there has been put on alert. The door guards are also reporting something strange happening out side."

"Well," Yuan demanded. "What are they saying?"

"They're saying that the sky lit up." Just then the main lights came back on. Several seconds later, the majority of the computer screens came back online as the main computer booted up. "Maybe now we'll get some answers," muttered Jestin.

"Bring up the outside camera's as soon as possible," ordered Yuan.

"On it sir," came the answer. Yuan was proud of his small army. It had taken several hundred years to get as large as it was now, but it was worth it all the same. True, their goal _was_ the eradication of Cruxis and the rejoining of the worlds, but now that Cruxis was gone and the worlds were falling apart, the organization had taken on a new role, that of saving it outright.

Over all, this organization was turning out to be a lot more resilient than he thought it would be. Yuan leaned back in his chair at the back of the operations room, causing the metal hinges to squeak just as the door slid open and Botta entered the control room.

He had blood streaming down the left side of his face, from which it dripped off of his chin to soil his dusty clothes. He quickly walked up to Yuan.

"What happened to you," asked Yuan.

"A piece of debris fell on top of me during the quake," he said. "It is just a flesh wound, pay it no mind. More importantly, Kratos has checked in."

Yuan sat up when he heard this, paying Botta more attention now that he'd mentioned the seraph mercenary's name. Before Botta could elaborate, the aftershock quake shook the building, knocking Yuan out of his chair and Botta onto the floor. The building shook and the lights flickered for near thirty seconds. Dust fell from the ceiling in small cascading waves.

When the shaking ceased, Yuan got back to his feet. "Where the hell is the outside visual?" he roared.

"Just a moment," shouted Shelcy. She typed several quick commands into her console. Onto the main holographic viewer at the front of the room appeared a grainy, fuzzy image of the outside desert. Several people gasped and Yuan's face grew grim.

"So," he said, "The sun has come back out." Then he turned to Botta and said, "If things go as they have since the first set of earthquakes, then this sunlight won't be fading into the horizon. We need to get everyone out of the light as soon as possible."

"I'm afraid that's not the most of our problems," said Botta with a sigh. "Kratos contacted us not long before the earthquake. He requested that we teleport him and his party back here."

Yuan crossed his arms. "What happened to the Walking Calamity this time?"

The door to the hissed open. Yuan stood, framed by the door, silhouetted by the light flowing into the room from the hallway. He started forward into the dimly lit conference room and strode with purpose to the front of the room and then stared at the occupants. Several swallowed loudly while other returned the stare.

"What happened to the Rheairds that were lent to you," asked the Renegade leader, pointing accusingly at Kratos. "And what happened to the Rheound that you stole?!" Yuan shouted at the small group of three standing next to Kratos' group."

"They were destroyed," said Kratos, glancing at the three next to him, "apparently at the same time."

"I see," said Yuan. "You do know that I will no longer be able to let you stay here," he said, addressing the three.

"That's not going to be a problem," said the blond woman who stepped forward. "This character called Kvar has kidnapped two of our friends and we don't intend to stay here and wait for them to be returned."

"Okay," said Yuan, throwing his hands into the air, "first, who are you? Second, what do you mean, 'Kvar'? He was transported away along with all the other Desians. We checked his Ranch and the only people there were the humans that he was growing Exspheres on."

"I am Zelda," said the woman. "And the only reason that I claim that this Kvar took our friends is because that is what Kratos was calling him."

"Kratos?" said Yuan, "would you care to explain what this woman is talking about."

"It is as she said," replied the stoic man. "Lloyd and his friends showed up and then so did Kvar just as we were leaving the Fire Seal. I contacted your technician and told him to teleport us before Kvar could make his move, but then the earthquake started. In the confusion, Kvar and his men grabbed two of our group and ran for the exit. We attempted to follow them but they had vehicles and we, unfortunately, did not."

"Please…"

"What?!" asked Yuan irritably. "Speak up!"

"Please," begged Genis loudly. He stumbled up to the table, his sister losing her grip on his shoulder, and pleadingly looked at the blue haired Renegade Leader. "Please, you have to help us save Lloyd and Link!"

* * *

Wow, so that means… Gaspeth, Lloyd and Link were kidnapped by Kvar!! Oh No's!!

**Dark Link**: "Psh. Whatever."

**Ubella**: "Stupid Hylian deserved it for being foolish enough to be captured."

**Link**: "Hey… it wasn't my fault. Or Lloyd's!"

**Lloyd**: "Yeah!"

**Dark Link**: "You are both weak."

**Ubella**: "If you're too stupid to fight back then don't blame anyone but yourselves when you're taken prisoner and made into slaves."

**Lloyd**: "S-slaves!? What?!"

**Link**: "We're going to become slave?!"

Maybe…. Mwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaa….. Please review.

**Link**: "And thanks for reading."


	17. They Meet in Secret

**Kvar**: "Hello."

K-kvar? What the hell are you doing here?

**Kvar**: "I just wanted to thank you for making these two my slaves." (_Pulls out a whip and starts whipping Lloyd and Link_).

**Lloyd** &**Link**: "Aahh!"

**Kvar**: "It has been most satisfying." (_Exit_).

**Link**: "How could you do that to us?"

**Lloyd**: "Yeah, he's evil!"

Sorry… but I didn't actually make you his slaves. He just seems to have gotten that into his head somehow…

**Dark** **Link**: "I wonder how that happened…"

**Link**: "You!"

**Lloyd**: "You did this?!"

**Dark** **Link**: "You got a problem with it?"

**Link**: "You bet we do!"

(_All three boys get into a down and dirty fist fight_).

**Ubella**: (_Sigh_) "Boys are so stupid. Gerudo never fight amongst each other."

Sure… they're all women. They get into catfights, not fistfights.

**Ubella**: "What!?"

Well, since you're the only one not, err… occupied, would you please name the reviewers?

**Ubella**: "You mean those strangers that have no bearing on my existence whatsoever? No! Especially not after you insulted the Gerudo!"

Please? (_Uses puppy dog eyes attack against Ubella_)

**Ubella**: "Grr… damn it! _**Jenova Remnant AKA Fishie**_, _**Canada Cowboy**_, _**freakyanimegal456**_,_**Amekoryuu**_, _**mandrakefunnyjuice**_,_**Poet Bucky**_, _**frostneko**_, _**Rini Tsukino**_, _**Toyax**_, _**eliteforce**_,_**ShadowHunterLoki**_, and_**TalesOfSymphonia-AndAnime-Fan**_. …Stupid puppies…"

Thank you for reviewing, and thank you Ubella.

**Ubella**: "Hmph!"

And as always, I do not own _Tales of Symphonia_ or _The Legend of Zelda_, just these characters that I've created and the plot lines I've drawn up. Now, while those three beat the crap out of each other, on with the story.

* * *

I want to apologize for the long delay of this chapter. First I had the flu, then I had school work (again), and then more recently, there was a blizzard (Which meant a lot of shoveling). Again, I'm really, really sorry.

* * *

- - - Hyrule - - -

Baron Barker confidently strutted back and forth in the center of the council chambers. He wore an enormous smile that made it difficult for the Princess to maintain her neutral composure, rather than leaning to the side to heave up the morning's breakfast. Instead, she cleared her throat and shifted in the very comfortable red velvet cushioned seat, shifting her weight to her left side.

The entire council had yet to be assembled, a fact which the Baron was using to his advantage. So far, aside from the Princess and the Baron, only four of the fifteen members were arrived, sitting in their respective chairs inside of the chamber. Tetra glanced at each of the members in turn, assessing them as best she could.

The first one to grace her line of sight was Councilman Sal Zeman, representative of the Merchant's Guild. He looked bored, or rather, he was trying to look bored. It must be really hard, mused Tetra, for that man to do anything but perpetually smile. It was disturbing to say the least.

Next was Councilman Zirk Agdy, representative of the Potions Guild. He always looked bored, so it was no surprise for Tetra to find him staring off into space. No doubt he was going over some equation or concoction in his head right now. More often than not, the man would mix terminology with regular speech, utterly and totally confusing everyone he spoke to. It was fortunate that he wasn't predisposed to speak very often.

Sitting next to Councilman Zirk was Councilwoman Andrea Agdy, the former Councilman's younger sister. They shared the same diminutive facial structure and sandy brown hair. Dressed in the garb of the Council chamber, Tetra could almost take the two as twins. However, appearances are where the similarities stop.

Adrea Agdy was the representative of the upper-middle class of Hyrule's population. She rose to her position with sharp criticism of the ruling class and sound solutions for the problems that were facing Hyrule at the time. Since rising to the Council, she'd become one of Tetra's more reliable allies and, due to Baron Barker, one of the most outspoken members. But no matter how much flak she got from the upper class or the royals, she kept on going, using her trademark fiery personality that she kept so well hidden behind a mask of a small, timid, soft-spoken woman.

Last was Councilman Ehk, representative of the Zora fiefdom. Tetra never got the chance to speak with the tall blue-skinned fish-man privately, thus she had no way of knowing how or what he'd say or do. So far she'd observed him as quiet and observant. Just another unpredictable variable in this game of politics, which she_absolutely_ loathed.

After going over everyone in the room, Tetra came to the conclusion that she would more than likely have the upper hand if it came down to a vote of confidence. However, Baron Barker no doubt had some scheme up his sleeve. She'd have to be wary.

As if reading her mind, the Baron stopped to stare at her lecherously. Tetra shuddered, violently holding back the urge to castrate the foul man. The Baron harrumphed and moved to his chair two seats away from the Princess.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the Council," announced the Baron, "I have brought you here today to discuss the escape of an enemy spy from our very own Princess' clutches."

"I've heard you were on the scene when the event took place, Councilman Barker," said Andrea. "No doubt you were traumatized by the event."

"Oh yes, my dear Councilwoman Agdy," responded the Baron. Andrea immediately lowered her face slightly to glare at the Baron. He chuckled lightly and went on. "And the princess' own guard gave his life to save me as well, something he is to be commended for."

"Yes," agreed Ehk, "all fallen warrior should be honored."

"Well said," agreed the Baron. "However, let's not lose sight of the fact that it was this same guard that let the Angel and her ilk escape, no matter how valiantly he was in saving me."

"If accusations against the Princess are the only thing you've brought us here for, _Councilman Barker_, then you should have waited for the full council instead of wasting our time."

Baron Barker simply smiled in response to Andrea's remarks. Tetra arched an eyebrow in curiosity. What was that man up to now?

"It's true, if that were the only thing I wanted to do, I should have waited. And you, my dear, have my apologies for your wasted time." The Baron stood up and started pacing about the center of the chamber as he spoke. All eyes were on him and that's how he liked it. "I was gladly waiting for the full council to show up to try the traitors and the angelic spy. But during the escape I noticed something that was of grave importance. Something, I thought, was so important that it couldn't wait for the full council to show up."

"What was so important that you've brought less than half the council to hear it?" asked Sal, speaking for the first time. "You know we are all very busy since the fall of this very castle to Ganondorf and the subsequent invasion of the Angelic Army."

"I was getting to that, councilman Sal," said the Baron. "What I noticed, as the angel and her cohorts escaped was that they were not alone in their attempt." Tetra's eyes widened face paled as the implication quickly sank in. The Baron turned and stared at the princess knowingly as he slowly said, "I saw someone helping them."

Tetra's blood went straight past the cooling phase into frozen solid ice. She felt light-headed and nauseous and any thoughts that might have entered her head bounced off like a shield was put up to ensure her mind remained foggy. Confused, she looked around the room for some form or relief, but everyone was looking at the Baron.

"Well," Andrea asked impatiently, "who was it?"

"I saw three or four people helping the angel escape," said the Baron, "I believe they were…"

"...asked by Princess Tetra to save you," explained Natalina, "so that you could help us save our lands from these Angels." The four Gerudo, who met up with and guided the five escapees to the canyon separating Hyrule proper from the Desert, were busy gathering supplies from the hiding places they'd put them in on the way into Hyrule. Colette stood amidst the four kids, almost oblivious to the heat that was dehydrating Rutina, Colin, and Rath. It was even hot enough to cause Ubella to sweat, though she was handling the warmth a lot better than her fellows.

"What makes you think that I want to help you fight the Angels?" asked Colette. She couldn't really believe she'd just asked that. Even after all she'd seen them do, working with the Desians among other things. It must be out of habit, she surmised. "I mean I want to fight them anyway, but why should I help the Hylians. They tried to kill me!"

"She has a point," said Ubella. "It isn't like those dogs were very accommodating. And speaking of which, Sister Natalina, why did you do what their Princess asked? She's not Gerudo."

"Sister Ubella," Natalina said patronizingly, "I did what she asked because she asked me. And, the Princess also happens to be Sister Tessa. She's as much Gerudo as any other woman in the fortress."

"What?!" shouted Ubella, incensed at the very idea of a Hylian masquerading as a Gerudo.

"I think I may be able to explain," Rath said suddenly. His voice was a bit raspy, but he spoke on nonetheless. "I believe our late King sent one of his daughters to live with the Gerudo as a symbol of peace and cooperation. Not much was said of the deal in Hyrule other than the happiness everyone felt when the Gerudo stopped raiding the farms and small border towns."

"How do you know all of this?" asked Colin from his not so comfortable spot on the shaded side of a large boulder.

"You are rather knowledgeable for one so young," mused Natalina.

"I have my ways," Rath said quietly.

Natalina laughed lightly. "You know," she said with a grin, "you remind me of someone I'd rather like to stab in the back." Rath started backing away, trepidation etched all over his face. Natalina laughed again, waving her hand placatingly. "Don't worry, it's a vague resemblance. You've nothing to fear… for now." Rath, still unsure, stayed as far away from Natalina as possible.

"Miss Colette." The blond ex-chosen turned to Rutina. The poor Zora girl's breathing was severely labored and her normally rubbery looking skin was now dry and wrinkled, like a grape left to sit in the sun for too long.

"Rutina," Colette said as she knelt down next to the inert blue girl, "how are you feeling. Do you need more water?"

"No, no," Rutina said weakly. "I… I don't want to hold you back. Please… Leave me here."

"We are _not_ leaving you here," Colette said forcefully. "Don't worry, we'll find someplace that full of water for you to rest in and get your strength back. Alright?"

"If… you say so… Colette," Rutina responded, half sighing, half gulping in air.

"Sister Natalina." Natalina turned from watching the Angel and Zora talking to face the cloaked Gerudo that walked up to her. "We only brought enough supplies for five people. We'll be hard pressed to get all these kids to the fortress without at least half of them dying of heat stroke and dehydration."

"Yes," agreed Natalina, "I already took that into account. And the Zora wouldn't last even a quarter hour out there. That leaves only one option doesn't it, Sister Brea?"

"You don't mean…" Natalina nodded, her expression grim and serious.

"Tell Sister Anna that we'll be requiring her skill with the flute," Natalina said cryptically. Brea stood still for several moments, contemplating weather she should do as told or not. Finally, she nodded and walked toward another of the cloaked Gerudo.

"What's this 'one option' you speak of?" asked Colin. Ubella grinned knowingly.

"Just you wait and see, Hylian," said the Gerudo girl, her face aglow with excitement. "It's the super secret Gerudo-"

"Now, now," Natalina admonished. "It wouldn't be secret if you go blabbing it to everyone, now would it."

"Oops, yeah, you're right," Ubella said. Though she tried to sound chastised, her excitement even bled through that, making her seem happy to be proven wrong. That was something none of them had ever seen. Ubella turned and dropped her happy attitude like a lead weight. "What's wrong with you bozos?"

"N-nothing," stammered Colin.

"I thought I saw a bee in your hair for a second, but I was mistaken," Rath said quickly.

"You just admitted you were wrong," said Colette, still amazed.

"So?!" Ubella huffed indignantly, "it's not like I haven't been proven wrong before."

"Sister Natalina, everything's set." Natalina nodded at Anna and tapped Colette on the shoulder.

"Go on, Colette, I'll carry her," she said. Colette nodded and stood up. In short order everyone was standing in a circle around Anna. Anna pulled a slender, pale blue flute out from her cloak and brought the instrument to her lips. The musical object was about as long as Colette's forearm and almost appeared to glow with a surreal incandescence, even in broad daylight.

When she started playing, notes of incredible clarity and sweetness filled the air. It was almost as if the very wind itself was humming the tune along with Anna as she played. Colette closed her eyes and listened to the serene flowing melody that sounded a lot like what her grandmother use to hum to her at night when she was younger.

Colette was startled out of her memories when someone tapped her shoulder, causing her to jump. "Colette," said Colin, "we're here… apparently."

"What?" she said, quickly looking around. Her mouth fell open slightly when she saw not the canyon walls that previously surrounded them, but the open desert and a high cliff wall. Carved into the wall was a woman that also appeared to be part serpent. "Where are we?"

"I don't know," said Colin, "one minute we were standing in the canyon, then there was this bright light, and then when I could see again, we were here."

"Hey!" shouted Ubella from the steps of the platform just in front of the giant snake lady. "You coming or do you want to be eaten by the Gibidos?"

"What are Gibidos?" asked Colette.

"They're like Redeads," explained Rath, as they quickly made their way across the sand to the stone platform where the other Gerudo stood. Colette nodded as she remembered the Redead that she, Lloyd, Genis, and Link ran into on their way to the Martel Temple. "But they're wrapped in cloth from head to toe and tend to move a little faster. They only appear in deserts and crypts though."

Once everyone was gathered together, Natalina led everyone into the doorway beneath the snake lady statue. Colette, still oblivious to the heat, noticed that everyone else was happy to get out of the sun and into the shade. It was then that it dawned on her that she'd never once felt hot or thirsty since entering the desert. She knew she should have, but she wasn't. Add another thing to the list of things to worry about, she thought.

"Our leader, Nabooru wants to meet with you," said Natalina as she laid Rutina down in a small fountain to the side of the room. Rutina immediately looked better, though not completely healthy, from the moment her skin touched the water. "However, she is still at the fortress, which is three days journey from here. I will go and retrieve her; you will stay here with Sisters Brea, Anna, and Lucia."

"Why do we have to stay here?" asked Colin.

"There's a sandstorm coming," Ubella said flatly. Gone was the excitement from before. "Another long one that only a Gerudo would be able to navigate."

"Why can't you lead us through the storm?" asked Colette. "We'd follow you closely."

"Won't work," said Ubella, her tone of voice conveying her complete and utter boredom. "Unless you can navigate it by yourself you'll get lost and die."

Natalina rested her face in her hands and sighed. "Sister Ubella, you must work on using tact and not be so blunt." Natalina turned to Colette, and said, "However, what she says is true. I alone will be able to make the journey, safely. Anymore than me, and we'll get lost in the storm and die of exposure. Don't worry, in three days time, I'll reach the fortress and then we'll be back here shortly." Without any fanfare, Natalina turned and walked out of the desert colossus.

Colette sighed inwardly. Now she was stuck here, in the middle of some desert, with no way out and nothing to do. She looked around the room at the others, hoping to see something that would alleviate her boredom. She found none.

She decided that she'd rather be sitting than standing and so found a seat on the steps of the stairs that led further into the colossus. After studying the enormous interior of the colossus, she got the urge to do something irrational. So without thinking about it, she shouted, "Hello!" as loud as she could. Her outburst startled everyone present, including a flock of birds outside that were attempting to scavenge for dinner.

"What was that for?" asked Ubella irritably. "There's no one here besides us!"

"I just wanted to see if there was an echo," Colette said, smiling innocently, "and there was."

"I…" Ubella paused for a moment before she spun around and walked a few paces away. Everything quieted down for a few minutes until Ubella shouted, "Heayo!" as loud as she could. The poor birds outside lost their meal for the second time.

"See," said Colette, "it echoes!"

For several minutes, the adult Gerudo watched the five younger ones shout as long and as loud as they could. The birds outside gave up and flew away, no longer interested in anything that might have been worth scavenging for food.

"Wow," said Colin, "I've never heard anything like that before."

"We have lots of echoes in Zora's Domain," said Rutina from the fountain. She now looked much better with a complexion more suited to her kind, blue and clammy. "At one spot, if you whisper, you can hear it all the way on the other side of the room."

"That's so cool," said Colin. "I want to visit Zora's Domain one day."

"That's unlikely to happen," said Rath, "since only Zora and Royal Hylian Messengers are allowed into Zora's Domain."

"What was Hyrule like," asked Colette suddenly, "before… all of this?"

"Well," said Colin, "I don't know about Zora's domain or the Desert, but I do know that it was much the same as it is now, except there weren't any angels and all everyone worried about was the King of Evil coming back again."

"The desert hasn't changed at all," said Ubella proudly. "We fear nothing and are feared by all."

"I haven't been to Zora's domain for a long time," said Rutina, "not since I was much younger. All I remember is playing games with the other children while my parents were working. Oh! And it was huge, with two waterfalls and lots of deep pools of water to swim in."

"Actually, even when the Evil King took over," said Rath, "nothing really changed. It was almost as if he were a completely different person from the King of Evil of Legend. No body cared of course, as long as they got to live."

"I thought it was a good thing he let us live," said Colin.

"It was," said Rath, "That's why it's confusing. Since when is the King of Evil 'good' to anyone?"

"I don't…" Colin stopped and thought about what Rath was saying. "I don't think he is good to anyone."

"What was Hyrule like before _he_ showed up?" asked Colette. "I mean, was it the same as it is now, with that bastard Baron and everything?"

"The Baron wasn't nearly as influential as he is today," said Rath. "Before the Evil King killed the King of Hyrule, there was actually relative peace and growth in the kingdom. The peace treaty with the Gerudo stopped the raids on villages and opened up new trade routes. The treaties with the Gorons and the Zora were strengthened. Even the Lost Woods become navigable, though not many know by what means that happened."

"So everything was better than it is now?" asked Colette.

"I still had to go to school, so I don't know if I'd call that better," said Colin. "You know what?" the boy asked after a short pause. "You're learning a lot about Hyrule, but we don't know anything about your world."

"The Hylian is actually right for once," said Ubella.

"Tell us about your home, Colette," said Rutina.

Colette nodded. "I suppose it's only fair you learn some things about me," she said. "I was born sixteen years ago in a little village called Iselia…"

- - - Sylvarant - - -

"_Kratos, why exactly are you so concerned with the welfare of these boys? Shouldn't the continued existence of the planet be of more importance?" Yuan leveled a questioning stare at the mercenary. Kratos scowled, like normal, but refrained from answering immediately._

"_I care because I wish to," he said at last._

"_Look," said Yuan, "I realize that that kid, what's his name, Lloyd? I realize he looks a lot like Anna, but that doesn't mean that he's your son. You told me yourself, he's dead."_

"_I was sure as well," said Kratos. "but…"_

"_Are you telling me that you seriously believe that he is your…"_

"_No, I mere am telling you that I wish to help those children." Kratos crossed his arms defensively._

"_Not that I can blame you for wanting to go after Kvar. I'd go after him myself if I wasn't so busy." Yuan fell silent for a few moments. Then he stood up from behind his desk and made his way out of his office. "Come on then, let's go to the Teleportation chamber. Lucky for you we were able to track their vehicles across the desert."_

"_Thank you, Yuan."_

"_Just be sure to rip that ass a new one for me, will ya?"_

"_I'll convey your condolences when I see him," Kratos said slyly._

"_You know what?" asked Yuan. "I can see the resemblance… now that I think about it."_

_Kratos sighed. "Drop it, Yuan."_

* * *

"I remember this chamber," said Genis. "This is where we were brought to when we first met that Yuan guy."

"Yes, it was," said Raine. "I wonder how exactly they manage teleport our mass and such through space and time to appear somewhere else without killing us." Raine walked up to the technician behind the control panel and asked, "How do you keep our insides from becoming our outsides? How does this whole thing work? How much energy does it take? What kind of research did you have to do?"

"Whoa, whoa. What?!" asked the technician. A sudden hiss signaled that the door opened. In walked Kratos, Sheena, Zelos, and Botta. Botta walked over to the technician being harassed by Raine while the other joined up with Zelda and Genis on the teleportation pad, or 'bull's-eye' as the soldiers outside the door called it.

"So you managed to convince that Yuan guy to help us?" asked Genis.

"Yes," said Kratos. "Once we arrive, we will have to search through the remains of Asgard. It's been abandoned except for Kvar and his men so we shouldn't have to worry about innocent people getting in the way."

"That's a relief," said Zelda.

"Yo, Zelda, can I ask you something?" asked Zelos.

"You just did," said Genis.

"Shut it, twerp," growled Zelos.

"Yes, Zelos, you may ask me a question," Zelda said, hiding her smile behind her hand.

"I was curios," said the redheaded chose, flashing the princess one of his most endearing and most trademarked smiles he could muster. "You speak and hold yourself as if you were brought up in high society. Were you a servant or something before all of this?"

Zelda, quite used to the trademark smiles Zelos was trying to pawn off on her, smiled back her own patronizing smile. "Not quite," she said. "But yes, I was brought up removed from the common people, though I've met with some on several occasions."

Zelos smiled again, "I knew it. I thought there was something odd about the way you held yourself. How did you end up with these country bumpkins?"

Zelda's smile faded somewhat. "I ran into an evil wizard and he attempted to kill me. Link attempted to rescue me, but we were both brought here in the end."

"All ready, sir," said the technician, now ignoring Raine and her speech about the development of ancient magitechnology.

"Very good," said Botta, "Miss Sage, if you would please step onto the telepad, then we can get you on your way."

"If I must," she said. Almost regretfully, she stepped away from the computer console and up onto the telepad. As she took her place next to Genis, Botta addressed them all.

"Once you arrive in Asgard, you will be unable to teleport back for forty-eight hours. Our systems have been drained by all the activity, not to mention that the earthquake severed several power couplings that will take some time to fix. Good luck." With a nod to the technician, the teleportation count down sequence was started.

"Thirty seconds until teleportation activation," announced a monotone feminine voice.

"Do you think this is going to hurt?" asked Zelos.

"Not likely," said Kratos.

"Oh that's good, I wouldn't want my beautiful self to be harmed."

Sheena groaned into her hands. "Zelos, shut up."

"Anything for you, my sweet, sensual, hunny-" Sheena smacked Zelos in the back of the head, dropping him to the ground. "-bun…"

"Teleportation activated," said the computerized voice. Three thick white electrode rods, crackling with power, lowered from the ceiling. The motors whined as they ground to a stop, leveling the three rods off at about waist height. A great blast of wind signaled the start of the process. The power crackling on the three rods grew ten fold in seconds.

Once the crackling power and the gusting winds peaked at near hurricane strength, the group of six disappeared, the rods started shooting out sparks, and the ceiling lights exploded. Everyone was thrown to the ground and enshrouded in complete darkness. Botta got to his feet just as the red emergency lights blinked on.

"What the hell happened?!" he roared.

"Sir!" Botta turned to the technician Raine had been pestering earlier. "I-" The technician went into a coughing fit after a cloud of smoke erupted from the console in front of him. When the man finally caught his breath, he said, "It appears sir- cough -that there was a power surge and the capacitors overloaded."

"Did they make it?" he asked just as another console exploded in a shower of sparks. "And where are all these damn power surges coming from?"

A high pitched beeping from Botta's waist forced him to step away from the console and the technician. He brought the communicator up to his mouth and pressed the talk button.

"Yes Lord Yuan?"

"Botta, a communication just came through up here from Kratos," said Yuan. "They were separated, but they all made it safely to the outskirts of Asgard."

"That's a relief," Botta said, wiping the sweat and grim off of his forehead. "What's going on with the power?"

* * *

"It appears that the power regulators were damaged in the quake," said Yuan over the communication unit. "I doubt that it will be fixed completely any time soon."

"What about the teleportation chamber?" asked Kratos. "Can you bypass primary conduits to power it and return us when the time comes?"

"No," replied Yuan, the com unit wavering in and out of clarity and static. "It appears to have been damaged quite badly. It could be weeks before it is in working order. You're on your own. Good luck. Yuan out."

"It appears that we are in quite a predicament," said Raine. She stood next to Kratos, scanning the pale blue dawn horizon. In the distance was the ruined city of Asgard. On the fields between here and there she could see the faint silhouettes of two people. The rest of their group was missing.

"So it seems," said Kratos. "We shouldn't dawdle any longer than we have to. We must find the others and proceed with the mission as soon as possible."

"I couldn't agree with you more," said Raine, "but I am curious as to why you are interested in saving these two boys. What ties do you have to them?"

"I have my reasons," said Kratos, walking away. "However, I think there are more pressing matters than my concerns at hand, don't you think?"

* * *

"Where are we?" asked Genis. He stood up and dusted himself off after his short fall from the branches of a tree. "And where's the rest of the group."

Sheena had a much easier time of getting out of said tree. She simply flipped backwards and landed in a crouch on the ground. "I guess something went wrong with the teleportation," she said. "Come on, let's go to Asgard. Hopefully, we'll meet up with everyone else on the way."

"Alright," agreed Genis.

* * *

"Wow, talk about accuracy." Zelos paced back and forth on the top of the ancient platform at the rear of Asgard. "Though it would have probably been better if everyone made it through."

"Yes," agreed Zelda. She hopped off the side of the stone structure onto the ground. "I suppose that leaves this rescue mission up to us then doesn't it."

"Yep, yep," said Zelos, hopping down next to Zelda. "Nothing the Great Zelos Wilder can't handle."

"I'm sure," said Zelda. She strolled up to the top of the stairs that led down the hill into the town. "Shall we?"

Zelos smiled. "After you, my beauteous noble lady."

Zelda smirked and consciously swept past the redhead and down the stairs. Zelos smiled to himself and followed the princess giddily.

- - - Hyrule - - -

Baron Barker strode happily into his chambers. Once inside, he spun around shutting the door in the process, and plunked himself down in the chair in front of his mirror. He then went through the exhaustive and thoroughly enjoyable process of examining his face for any defects of which he could never seem to find. After three quarters of an hour, by which time the sun had gone down completely and the stars were just peeking out from their daytime hiding places, the Baron stood up and moved to his writing desk.

Once seated in front of the large expanse of expensive and most definitely rare Deku wood, the Baron reached underneath the desk and began feeling around. With a satisfied grunt, the Baron pulled on a lever that caused a mechanical whirr to start sounding from the inside of the desk. The center of the desk's surface cracked open and revealed a hidden chamber. From below a crystal orb raised up until the entire sphere sat on a small padded pedestal in the center of the desk.

Inside of the sphere, a dark cloud appeared, swirling around, frothing with maddening convulsions so dire they'd drive any man insane. The Baron leaned in close to the sphere, almost excited by what would drive normal men to the brink and beyond. From the darkness appeared a striking visage with eyes glowing like coals fresh from hell, skin as black as pitch, and horns and tusks jagged and sharp.

The Baron giddily stepped back and bowed deeply. "How may I be of service," he said reverently, "Lord Ganon?"

* * *

Thus ends this long suffering chapter. Wow, I can't believe how long it took me to finish this.

**Ubella**: "You only took this long because you're a lazy author with no respect for the readers."

That's not true. I write because I want to entertain readers, not because I want to make them suffer.

**Link**: "And that cliffhanger isn't making them suffer?"

**Dark Link**: "Of course it is, and it's not bad either. Though if I were writing this, there'd be more of 'em and they'd be ten times worse."

Oh, of course they would. But since I'm not you, Dark Link, I guess I'll just wallow in your shadow.

**Dark Link**: "Damn straight."

Anyway, I would like to apologize again for the delay of this chapter. I really had a lot of things getting in the way one right after the other. Hopefully, what with my mom getting back onto her feet, I'll have more free time to write (That is if I don't continuously get distracted by Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Sweet awesomeness from heaven… that is one helluva game!)). I guess the only thing left to do now is to ask that you kind, kind readers please review.

**Link**: "And thanks for reading too, even though it's been forever since this has been updated… Hey! Where was I in this chapter?"

Heh, heh, moving on…


	18. Kvar, Oh, Kvar

_**Jenova Remnant AKA Fishie**_, _**Poet Bucky**_, _**Canada Cowboy**_, _**freakyanimegal456**_, _**Toyax**_, _**mandrakefunnyjuice**_, _**Amekoryuu**_, and _**eliteforce**_ are the reviewers this time. A round of applause please.

**Link**: (_Clap clap clap_) "Thank you so much!"

**Ubella**: I'd rather rot in the belly of a sandworm!

**Dark Link**: "Whatever…" (_Turns_ _away_).

**Link**: "It's nice to know that there are still people out there reading this even after such a long dry spell."

Yes, yes it is. Now, as many of you've been wondering, what's happening to Link and Lloyd? They've been gone for two chapters.

**Link**: "Considering that we're the main characters, isn't that a bad thing?"

No, I call it 'letting the imaginations of the readers go wild'. An effective strategy for building up tension, it is.

**Dark Link**: "Now he's speaking like that twisted green midget freak with a lightsaber."

**Link**: "Don't make fun of Yoda, he'd kick your butt."

**Dark Link**: "Unlike you."

**Link**: "Shut up already! I don't care anymore!" (_Link and Dark Link start fighting_).

Ugh… not this again. Let's do the disclaimer then… Let's have a guest character do it… Ganondorf? No, he'd talk too much about his own evil awesomeness. Hmm... If only there were a Gerudo that I could pick on until she relents and does what I asked…

**Ubella**: "…"

Oh Ubeeellaaaa…

**Ubella**: "… no, no more, I quit!"

Too bad. Do it or I'll pull out-

**Ubella**: "Those stupid puppies won't work anymore. I've gone and gotten myself immunized."

Oh really… (_Uses super secret cute Kitty attack on Ubella_)

**Ubella**: "I really hate you… and your kittens too. I.K.A. Valian doesn't own _Tales of Symphonia_ or _The Legend of Zelda_."

Thank you, now on with the story.

* * *

- - - Sylvarant - - -

"I can't believe it," said Raine, whispering it to be sure she wasn't dreaming. Standing there in the middle of the wind swept, waist high grass was Lloyd. He stood alone, with his back to Kratos and Raine as they approached, gazing up at the moon in the bright blue mid-day sky. "Lloyd," she shouted. "Lloyd, how did you escape?"

Kratos' and Raine's feet stopped crunching grass quickly when Lloyd turned around and faced the mercenary and healer. He wasn't smiling, nor he wasn't frowning, he was just staring at them lifelessly. And yet he still retained enough faculties to unsheathe both his swords and level them at the two.

"Lloyd, what has he done to you?" asked Kratos slowly, unsheathing his own sword while pulling his shield onto his other arm. With watery eyes that seemed incapable of believing what she was seeing, Raine readied her staff for battle.

"You are in the way," Lloyd said monotonously. "Leave this cursed land or die."

"Lloyd!" From the forest to the right Genis and Sheena appeared, sprinting toward the twin swordsman. "Lloyd! Thank goodness you're okay!" The two ran up to Lloyd and stopped a few feet away. "What happened to Link, Lloyd?"

"You are in the way," Lloyd repeated, "leave this cursed land or prepare to die." He swept one sword to point at Genis and Sheena while keeping on pointed at Kratos and Raine.

"Lloyd?!" barked Genis, "what are you doing?"

"Is this anyway to treat your friends?" added Sheena furiously. She quickly pulled out a set of Mana infused cards and shifted her weight so that she could easily block or attack on a moments notice. "What did that mad man do to you?"

"You are in the way," Lloyd repeated again, "leave this cursed Land or prepare to die, now!"

"It's no use," said Kratos, "he's been brainwashed by Kvar. Nothing you say will mean anything to him."

"What?" shouted Genis. "Lloyd, tell them it's not true! Tell them this is all a joke!"

"This is not a joke, Genis," said Lloyd in his monotonous voice. "Since you will not leave, then you will die.

With the same breathe, Lloyd jumped into the air and attempted to bring both his swords down on Kratos. The mercenary easily blocked, grabbed Raine, and jumped backwards without breaking a sweat. Lloyd blinked a few times, turned around, and ran at Sheena and Genis. The kunoichi jumped tackled Genis to the ground just seconds before Lloyd lopped his head off.

"Lloyd," choked Genis. "Why are you doing this?!"

Lloyd looked down at the whimpering boy. "Because, Genis, you are in the way and refuse to leave. Now die!" Lloyd raised his left sword into the air and stabbed the spot in the dirt where moments before Genis' head used to be. Sheena landed a few feet away with Genis swinging limply in her arms.

"I'm sorry Genis," whispered Sheena, "but whatever that bastard did to Lloyd made him turn against us. It looks like we're going to have to fight him." Genis looked up at Sheena with a tear streaked horrified face.

"We… can't fight Lloyd," the boy shouted. "He's our friend. He's… my best friend. I can't fight him!"

"Well he can certainly fight you," shouted Sheena as she dove to the ground to avoid a Demon Fang attack. Lloyd turned slowly, still with a blank look on his face, and ran toward Kratos and Raine. Sheena pulled her scraped and bleeding legs beneath her and started laying out her cards. "And I'll be damned if I don't try and stop him from killing us all," she muttered.

Kratos met Lloyd's incoming Sword Rain with a Grave attack. Once both moves effectively canceled the other out, both swordsmen jumped at each other and started trading blows. Genis winced every time their swords kissed, twitched every time their blades screamed through the air, shuddered every time one of them got pushed back, grunted, and ran back at the other. Pushed to the limit, Genis gave out a cry.

"Stop it!" he shouted, jumping to his feet and running at Lloyd and Kratos.

"Genis, no!" shouted Sheena.

Raine stood on the other side of the battle field and immediately noticed when Genis started running blindly toward the two fighters. "Genis," she whispered. Immediately, without thinking, she ran forward on an intercept course.

Genis ran, wiping tears from his eyes as he went. "Stop fighting!" he shouted. "Stop it!"

Lloyd heard the boy shouting as he approached and leapt away from the battle with Kratos. Then he turned and ran at Genis. Raine yelped and sped up, attempting to get to the boy first. Kratos' eyes widened and he took off after Lloyd. Sheena gasped as she saw what was going on, her half laid out summoning cards forgotten on the ground.

Genis stumbled halfway across the field and fell face first into the grass. He pushed himself up, sniffing and wiping away more tears. Two red booted feet appeared in his blurry vision. He looked up to see the emotionless face that he'd become used to seeing angry, flustered, or laughing.

"Lloyd," Genis said in an abnormally husky voice. "Please stop."

"Because you were my friend, you'll die first," Lloyd said calmly. "Goodbye Genis."

"Lloyd! No!" shouted Raine from behind Kratos, both running as fast as they could toward the two boys.

"Lloyd, snap out of it!" shouted Kratos. Making a judgment call, Kratos stopped, grabbed Raine and held her back, grimacing as he did so. She immediately started kicking and punching the purple clad man, but nothing made him budge.

"Lloyd," whimpered Genis, "You're my only friend in this whole world." Lloyd ignored Genis and raised his right sword into the air and quickly brought it down in a quick strike to Genis' neck.

Silence filled the mid-day air. Raine, no longer thrashing, slumped to the ground with a face just as blank as Lloyd's. Kratos himself, sporting a few new bruises and cuts, was warily watching the scene unfold. Sheena went back to her work, now quickly laying out her summoning cards as fast as she could.

"I… swore… never… to let… anyone hurt… you… again!" grunted Lloyd. "I… promised… to be your… friend… because… no one else… would…" The boy was trembling as his right hand pushed one sword downward while his left hand pulled his other upward. It was as if two people were fighting within the same body. Genis opened his eyes a little, wiped them quickly on his arm, and looked again. Lloyd's face kept switching back and forth between a horrible grimace of pain and the calm, emotionless one from before. Genis' cried unabashedly and watched Lloyd, ignoring the sword centimeters away from his neck. "Genis," rasped Lloyd as he clenched his teeth tightly together, fighting for control of his own body, "run! I can't hold… it back… for much longer!"

Genis didn't move. He couldn't move. He tried to make his legs move, but he was numb from the neck down. His ears pounded in time with his heartbeat. His eyes wouldn't stop releasing their flood of emotion down his face. Lloyd's sword lowered centimeter by centimeter, each increment signifying the gradual weakening of the true Lloyd's strength. "Damn it… Genis… run!"

Fortune smiled and Genis didn't move at all. Sheena suddenly stood up, the ground around her glowing so brightly that it appeared as if the sun were shining from beneath her feet. "I call upon the Red Giant, the Ruler of Hellfire, come, Efreet!" she said quietly. However, her voice was amplified into a loud and booming voice by the red and orange Mana swirling around her feet. The moment the air in front of her erupted in the eternal flames that heralded Efreet's arrival the cards surrounding Sheena caught fire.

"What is it you desire of me, pact-maker?" Efreet asked in his gravely voice.

"I ask thou to burn the one controlling Lloyd away," Sheena said, still holding her pose with her arms outstretched in front of her and her hands held in the form of a triangle with her palms flat, her pointer fingers and thumbs touching. Efreet bow to Sheena.

"As you wish pact-maker." The Red Giant turned and sped toward Lloyd with all the ferocious swiftness of a rocket. His humongous fist reared back, became engulfed with bright purple fire, and screamed forward, howling like a banshee.

Efreet's hand slammed into Lloyd, sending him flying backwards, over the heads of Kratos and Raine, and into a small shrubbery, which just so happened to burst in the flames. Lloyd screamed madly, insanely, as his body became engulfed in the purple fire once surrounding Efreet's hand. The bush quickly became ash around Lloyd who remained, physically at least, unharmed.

For several minutes, they watched the spectacle of Lloyd sound like he was dying while running around in a purple flame. Had the situation not been so serious, they might have found it humorous. Finally, the boy stopped and dropped to the ground like a log. The purple fire, which moments before was burning like a bon fire, dissipated in seconds.

Efreet returned to Sheena's side, bowed, and disappeared in a cloud of black smoke just as the last of the cards beneath the Summoner's feet disappeared. Sheena sighed and slumped to the ground, letting her stiff arms and fingers fall to her sides and rest after holding the same strenuous pose for the entire summoning. Tired though she was, she forced her leg muscles to work and stand up, eliciting a weary groan from her deep in her gut. Her head wasn't any better as the horizon seemed to move on its own. Never the less, Sheena made her way to join the other standing around Lloyd.

Genis sat on one side of Lloyd while Raine kneeled on the other. She held her staff above Lloyd, waving it up and down his body with slow, even strokes. The top of the staff glowed green, emitting the healing spell in a continuous stream that covered and was absorbed into Lloyd's body quickly. Kratos stood stoically behind the healer, watching with guarded interest.

"I hope he's okay," Genis fretted.

"He looks fine," said Kratos. He glanced at Sheena just as she stumbled to a stop. "You should probably work on building up your Mana so that you're not weakened so much after summoning."

"You don't have to tell me that," Sheena said breathlessly. "I'm just happy I had enough Mana to actually carry out the summoning. How is he looking Raine?"

"I can't really find anything wrong with him," she responded slowly, engrossed in her work. "It's almost like whatever was wrong was totally in his mind and had no impact on the rest of him."

"It's a process called Re-education," said Kratos stonily. He crossed his arms and closed his eyes as he explained. "Kvar used the process on unwilling half-elves and humans to increase the size of his army or to gather intelligence."

The green glow coming from Raine's staff tapered off as the healer craned her neck to look at Kratos. Kratos remained indifferent, ignoring the healer and the rest of the group's stares. Raine's mouth twisted slightly, and a determined fire lit up in her eyes, as she turned around and stood up and crossed her own arms, leveling her best 'You'd better tell me what I want to know' stare at the mercenary.

"How do you know all of this Kratos? Ever since we first met, you've always seemed to know about things that you shouldn't. And it doesn't help your case that you were in league with that Yggdrasill guy or that you assaulted Colette and handed her to him." Kratos leveled his gaze at Raine, staring directly into her eyes. Raine shirked the murderous vibes off with a shiver and went on with her self-righteous accusations. "And now, you say you know what this Kvar was doing to Lloyd. You even knew who he was before any of us did! How do you know these things?! And why didn't you do anything to stop him before it came to Lloyd ending up in a near coma?!"

Kratos remained silent. He stared at Raine coldly and silently, remaining completely still. It made him appear as a he was a coiled viper, ready to strike. Then, quite suddenly, he spoke.

"I know about Kvar because he tortured me and killed my wife and son in front of me," he said bluntly. Raine turned several shades whiter.

"I… I'm sorry. I didn't…"

Kratos took one step and closed the distance between him and Raine instantly. His face moved in so close to hers that he could have stabbed her in the eye with his nose. His several inches in height over Raine became amplified, making him ten times taller and his menacing eyes ten times more terrifying. "And I would rather my personal business stay private."

Finished speaking, Kratos moved next to Lloyd, picked him up, and started walking toward Asgard. "I believe that he is based inside the city. No doubt your other friend is in there too. We'd better hurry. I have no doubt in my mind that he has been watching us the entire time."

* * *

"Oh, yes. Yes I was," cackled the vile man. He watched the rest of the group look back and forth at each other before they chased after the mercenary. "Still giving children nightmare's… Eh Kratos?"

"Sir." Kvar looked up from the portable computer screen. The black uniformed Desian saluted and went on. "The boy's found and opened the door. We're about to send in a group now."

"Very good," said Kvar. "That boy is turning out to be more useful than I thought possible. Inform me of any developments, otherwise, don't bother interrupting me. You are dismissed, Rawlins."

"Yes sir!" Rawlins saluted again and ran off, ducking under a piece of deteriorating stone wall. He jogged across the small clearing between Kvar's makeshift operations center and the entrance to the Balacruf Mausoleum.

As the sound of even footsteps approached, Link winced and pulled himself even more tightly into his knees. The dark bruises all over his body cried out for relief, but Link curled up even tighter nonetheless. He slacked his grip only slightly when the Desian strode past him and to the group of soldiers preparing their gear for the entrance into the new dungeon entrance that Link had moments before been, quite painfully, thrust against.

"Alright men, head in," said Rawlins. "Report back every five minutes. Success!"

"Success!" shouted the five man team. They picked up their heavy gear easily and strode confidently into the yawning entrance that appeared in the side of the stone base of the Mausoleum. After giving more instructions to the radio team set up next to the entrance, Rawlins strode up to the guard standing next to Link and spoke into his ear. Whatever he said made the guard salute, kick Link in the side for good measure, and then strode off.

"Get up, boy," Rawlins shouted at Link. Link struggled to stand, but his badly bruised legs wobbled violently and his arms were in no shape to help support him. "I told you to get up, boy!" Rawlins shouted, kicking Link in the stomach so hard that gobs spit flew out of the boy's mouth. Link rolled onto the ground, cradling his aching midsection and head, as Rawlins continued to kick Link all over his body.

"Damn," shouted Rawlins with primal satisfaction, "I love this kid!" He reached down and hauled Link up by the ropes tied around his wrists. "When I tell you to get up, you get up, boy!" Link opened his tear tortured eyes and stared blankly at Rawlins. He would have responded, but his tongue stopped working half a day ago. "Now come on."

Rawlins turned and dragged Link behind him along the ground toward the front of the Mausoleum. When they were in front of the ancient stone structure, Rawlins swung Link around by his tied wrists and dropped him like a sack of refuse into a small stream. Blood from freshly reopened wounds polluted the water that was already dirty with mud.

"I'm only going to say this once, boy," said Rawlins. Link lay there, not thinking, not feeling. Thinking got you hurt. Feeling got you hurt. Got to stay alive. Can't feel, can't think. Rawlins chuckled and tossed a small bundle down in front of Link.

"And I mean it. Only once." Link looked noticed the hilt of a sword sticking out of the bundle, but that didn't matter. He quickly banished the thought before it hurt him. Rawlins leaned down and slashed the bonds tied around Links' wrists.

"Never, ever give in to tyranny. Never give up hope. And, above all, never stop fighting evil. It's what hero's are supposed to do, right?" Link looked up at Rawlins and then immediately dropped his gaze. No, it was a trick. It had to be. They wanted him to try and run so they could have more sport with him by chasing him down and beating him even more. Yes, definitely a trick. A trick!

"Those guys don't know what I've done yet. You should have only a half hour to an hour before they figure it out. I'll try and cover for you as long as possible." Link glanced up at Rawlins again, a glimmer of hope and a deep suspicion of betrayal mixed together in his bright blue eyes. Rawlins sighed. "Don't worry, I'm an ally. Though you've yet to discover enough of your destiny to know who or how yet. See ya around."

Link watched Rawlins turn around and walk back toward the camp at the back of the Mausoleum. He lay there, waiting for him to come back, like he knew that he was going to. At any moment, he'd return and tell him it was just a trick, bet him up for not playing along, and then drag him back to beat him up some more in front of the other Desians.

But Rawlins never came back. Several birds swooped down and started pecking at rocks and bugs. The wind blew through the trees. A dog ran by. But no one came looking.

After several minutes the first thought of the day entered Link's mind. "I'm free." That thought drove him to reach out with his will power and push his aching arm in front of his face so that he could see his unbound hand. "I… I'm… I'm… free…" he said, his voice more gravely than the well worn path way next to the small stream.

He reached out to the small bundle and slowly dragged it to him. With his one working arm, as he was lying on top of the other one, Link undid the knot on the sack and let the flaps fall apart. Inside lay several gels, a small bottle with a red substance swishing around inside of it, a note tied with yellow string around the neck of the glass container, a wooden shield, and a sword.

Link picked up the bottle and brought it to sit right in front of his face so that he could read the note. His pupils dilated and contracted as he read, varying expressions of confusion and wonderment flashing on his face. Almost giddily, Link opened the bottle and brought it to his mouth.

With all the bruises and pain, it was a challenged for Link to drink anything, let alone this strange red liquid. But from the moment the crimson liquid touched his lips to the moment that the last drop fell from the glass' depths, Link got stronger and healthier. When he finally pulled the bottle away from his face, he was as healthy as a horse, and as hungry as one too.

Link grimaced and looked at the bottle. "Definitely nasty." Link twisted the bottle around in his hands and untied the note from the bottle. "Wait until Zelda sees this," he said, a proud grin creeping onto his face.

Sudden shouts startled Link out of his imagined reunion and the bottle slipped from his fingers. The glass container shattered instantly onto the ground, the unmistakable sound reverberating around the area. Link's heart jumped into his throat.

He quickly grabbed up the sack of items off the ground and dashed into the bushes not one second before a Desian appeared, his whip dragging along the ground. Behind him several more Desians appeared, all of them with their weapons out, looking for a fight. Link swallowed the dryness building up in his mouth and made himself as small and low to the ground as possible.

"Come on," said first Desian. "He might be further up the road." The group took off, leaving a trail of dust in the air. Link poked his head out of the bush when he couldn't hear their footsteps any longer.

"It looks like I can't leave and I definitely can't stay," he said to himself. "They'll find me where ever I choose to go. What do I do now?" Link yelped and ducked back into the bush when another set of Desians ran into view.

"Get that team back quick!" shouted the man running at the front of the group. "They have to investigate what happened to Team One!" They quickly ran past Link's hiding place, rustling bushes and grass as they ran down the pathway.

Link's bush started waving around madly and then he dropped out of it onto the path on his back. He felt several rocks scrape his skin through the holes that the Desians so generously ripped in his clothes. When he stood up, he craned his neck looking down the path in the direction that the Desians had run. Then he turned and looked back at the tree enshrouded Balacruf Mausoleum. From his position, it appeared to have almost completely been over run by jungle.

"I can't leave… and I'd rather get eaten by a hungry Deku tree than go back to where the rest of them are." Link strapped the sword and shield across his back "That's strange." He felt the straps around his body. "It's almost like this stuff was made for me." Link shrugged and twisted around, getting a new feel for the equipment.

"Now what?" he asked sullenly. The bush in front of him gave no response, other than a slight rustling in the wind. Thus the Hylian looked upwards to the sky and said, "Oh great Goddesses. Show me the path to my destiny." Link waited for a few minutes, during which time a few birds flew by over head and a squirrel jumped the space between trees. When nothing but happened, Link sighed, closed his eyes, and spun around. "Please, Goddesses," he whispered, "point me in the right direction."

Link spun and spun in the same spot until he came to a stop with the wind blowing on his back. When he opened his eyes, he found himself facing the Mausoleum. "Oh, no," he shouted to the heavens, "I'm not going back there."

A huge gust of wind blew through the clearing, blowing leaves off of bushes and tree branches alike. Link was forced to the ground to keep from being pushed over. His hat slipped from his head and started skidding across the ground.

"Hey, wait!" he shouted, bolting forward after his floppy green hat. Another gust of wind carried the hat further and further away from Link, who chased it into and through a bush, over a very big boulder, under a fallen log, though another fallen (and smelly) log, down a small hill, before finally settling on top of the highest branch of a very tall tree. "Oh, come on," Link shouted with a frown, "that's just not fair!"

Leaving a resigned grunt in his wake, Link started climbing up the trunk of the large, conifer. At first it wasn't so hard. The branches were thick and numerous. And the prickly pine needles were all on the ends of the branches while Link was climbing up the center. About two thirds of the way up the tree, Link stopped climbing. The branch he was standing on was bending down so far that if he stepped off, it would snap upward and smack him off the tree, or at least, that's what his over active imagination came up with.

"Great," he groaned. Link clung to the central trunk of the tree, hoping that something would happen. Link waited on top of the tree, in the ever present sunlight for hours. Link's eye lids began to slowly make their way shut. He shook his head, trying to stay awake. But still, he continued to get sleepy, his arms and legs ached from standing on the same branch and clinging to the tree too tightly, and his hair blew around in the light breeze that taunted the boy with his hat only a few feet above him.

Finally, the laws of nature took over and the branch that Link was standing on snapped. Link screamed all the way to the ground, breaking off branch after branch of the enormous conifer until he landed on the ground in a pile of wood and pine needles. Link wheezed and coughed until he was able to breathe again. Every time he moved his back, he winced in pain and couldn't breathe again.

Eventually, he managed to dig his way out of the mess he'd made and found his hat, lying on the ground just a few feet away from him. Grumbling to himself, Link stumbled to his hat and painstakingly put it back on. When he was satisfied that the green cone wasn't going to fall off again any time soon, he turned and took one step. Then the ground fell out from underneath him and Link fell into the darkness.

- - - Hyrule - - -

Crinkled old hands, whose skin was so thin that veins and arteries could be seen pulsing beneath, waved about fluidly over a small crystal ball. A smoke filled image glowed from within the crystal, projecting the remotely observed scene a few inches into the air above the sphere. Two very old and malicious eyes watched the images steadfast.

Colette was wandering around, pacing in circles, but not doing anything. The Gerudo assigned as custodians of the children were resting at the back of the room. The Gerudo girl was arguing vehemently with the blond Hylian boy, and the Zora and the other boy were sleeping.

"Sister, they appear to be the ones that our Lord is most interested in," cackled the first old woman, her ruby red irises focusing in on the blond angel. "This girl appears to be the first Angel specimen that has fallen into our hands."

"But not the last," cackled her twin. The two old crones burst into screeching laughter. "Come, Kotake," said the ancient Gerudo witch, "Let us ride and capture Lord Ganon's prize."

"Yes, Koume. Let's!" Both witches hopped and rose into the air, magical energy spilling out of every ancient pore on their body. Brooms appeared with a puff of smoke beneath them. They both grabbed onto their own broom and rode screeching with laughter out of the room they were in.

* * *

"And I told you Gerudo are better because we brought horses to Hyrule. We had them before even they did so we have, and always will have, more ability with them than any stinking Hylian!" Ubella was heaving, bordering on the point of hyperventilating. Colin was about ready to respond but the Gerudo girl spun around and kicked him in the chest, sending him to the floor. He skidded across the room and slammed into a wall. Before Colin could get up Colette was standing in front of him.

"What is wrong with you," she shouted. Ubella stood her ground, but said nothing. "Isn't there enough fighting in the world already? People are dying out there. No one can escape it. And here you two are fighting about horses?!"

"Hahahahahahaa…"

Brea, Anna, and Lucia jumped to their feet, but were not fast enough to escape the blasts of magic that sent them flying out of the temple entrance and into the raging sand storm. Colette, Ubella, and Colin watch two old crones, one with red hair and one with blue, floated around the room on a pair of brooms. The blue one pointed at the sleeping forms of Rath and Rutina while the red one pointed at Colette. A red haze covered the angel, putting her to sleep. Then her unconscious form floated into the air and next to the red haired witch. Rath and Rutina were floating next to the blue haired on in a blue haze.

"Do you have our toys, Koume?" asked the red haired one.

"Of course, Kotake!" Koume bit out venomously. "Let's take Lord Ganon's prize back so that we can play with our new toys! Kya-hahahahahahahaa!" The two witches screamed happily as they roared off on their brooms, deep into the temple.

"On no," shouted Colin. He jumped to his feet and ran a few feet forward. "What happened? Who were they? Where did they take the others?"

"I don't know," said Ubella. She reached down and picked up two scimitars that Brea dropped on her way out of the temple. "But I don't intend to lie down and hope for the best, like some Hylian dog!" Ubella ran up the small set of stairs and then stopped at the top. She turned and glared at Colin. "Are you coming or are you going to run away like some desert rat?!"

Colin puffed his chest out, scooped up a sword, and ran after Ubella.

* * *

Wow, that took a while to write.

**Link**: "True, but at least I'm in this chapter."

**Lloyd**: "Yeah, it took long enough."

Well, that's that. Please review!

**Link**: "And thanks for reading!"


	19. Indirect Influence

Link

Link!

**Link**: "Yessir!"

Name the reviewers!

**Link**: "_**freakyanimegal456**_, _**Poet Bucky**_, _**Jenova Remnant AKA Fishie**_, _**Canada Cowboy**_, _**mandrakefunnyjuice**_, _**Toyax**_, _**Amekoryuu**_, _**Rini Tsukino**_, _**eliteforce**_, and _**NightmareSyndrom**_."

**Dark Link**: "You follow orders real well, lemming."

**Link**: "What's a lemming?"

Don't ask Link, don't ask.

**Dark Link**: "You are a lemming, weakling."

**Link**: "I am not weak!"

The two boys start fighting again.

**Ubella**: "Every chapter, they fight. Is this some kind of Hylian tradition?"

Possibly. Maybe I should come up with a new reason every chapter… I, I.K.A. Valian, do not own Tales of Symphonia or Zelda. I do own the original characters and plot and such. On a side note, this chapter was supposed to begin the Sylph Dungeon, but I'm still drawing it out on graph paper so that was a no go. That said, I decided to write out some of the other things going on, besides what we already know about. It's probably going to end up being mostly filler. But everyone needs filler once in a while, right? Read and enjoy.

* * *

- - - A Dank Hole, Sylvarant - - -

Link walked into the dank darkness. Suddenly, a blade whipped out from his left and lopped his head off. It flew off into the room, a surprised visage frozen forever more onto his features. His dead body dropped to the floor.

The end.

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Okay, just kidding. April Fools and all that.

**Link**: "What the heck are you taking about, that was several weeks ago!"

Whatever. Now… onto the real story… hehehe

* * *

- - - Mithos - - -

Yggdrasill gave a mental sigh. He wasn't happy in the least. But he'd not been happy for four thousand years. Pleased, yes, but happy, no. Not since…

But that's the past. Now, this maniac had upended his plan to resurrect his sister and create his new world. He was so close to completing his plan that it made his palms itch. The rage that burned inside his heart of hearts had only grown because of this… interruption. If only he could free himself of this prison within his own mind.

"It's no use, Mithos," spoke the shadow. He appeared floating in mid air as a flowing blanket of black, foggy, nothingness with a single red eye. "I've told you that I'm going to give your sister back to you. Why do you keep fighting against me?"

Mithos glared, at least, he tried to glare. Ever since being locked within his mind, Mithos had lost his mature form and now inhabited the body of a much younger and more innocent looking Mithos Yggdrasill. Thusly, his glare made him look like he was either badly imitating Kratos or he was bloating up after being stung by a bee.

"Ha ha ha ha," laughed Agahnim.

"I'm going to enjoy when I finally get to kill you," Mithos said.

"Ha! As if you're puny mind with such limited mental capacity could even begin to fathom the depths of my power." Agahnim started floating randomly around the mental Heimdall. "So, let me guess why you keep fighting me then? Is it a natural reaction to having another mind sharing your own body, or perhaps it's that you don't like being bound to one spot? You wouldn't be claustrophobic, would you?"

Mithos continued to glare.

"Heh, heh," Agahnim chuckled, "didn't think so. Or maybe it's because you think I've ruined all your plans for saving your sister and creating a world in which you could live free of discrimination."

Mithos growled. _How could that freak shadow know so exactly the reason he loathed him? Could he read minds?_

"Yes," said Agahnim.

_Or is he trying to read between the lines? Is he that… Oh._

Agahnim laughed again. "You, Mithos Yggdrasill, are one of the most entertaining hosts I've inhabited since my own body was destroyed many eons ago."

"I don't know how I'm going to do it," spat Mithos, "But I'm going to rip your head off and feed it to the dogs, you pathetic inferior being!"

"That's not very nice," Agahnim mockingly admonished. "As a token of my… appreciation of you, dear Mithos, I'll grant your second wish."

"What's that, you'll leave me for someone else and allow me to chop off your head?"

"No…" Agahnim chuckled. "I'll give you a world without discrimination. You'll just have to wait a little bit for your sister to join you, I've still a need of her." The foggy black stain on nature disappeared, along with the magical bonds holding Mithos down on the ground. He was free!

Mithos immediately got up and ran to take cover inside of a house. Once inside, he breathed a sigh of relief while peeking out of a window, searching the village for the creepy shadow. He wasn't in the sky anymore and he wasn't anywhere that could be seen from the small window.

"Boo!"

"Ahh!" Mithos spun around. He picked up a nearby wooden chair and swung it as a weapon, hoping to catch the shadow behind him right in the eye. Though his reflexes were good, right on target even, the chair passed right through the floating shadow and that vile, squinty eye. An eye that was laughing at him.

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" Agahnim kept laughing as the chair passed through his amorphous form several more times.

"Why!" shouted Mithos. "Why can't I hit you?!"

"Fool!" laughed Agahnim merrily. "This domain is under my control, nothing you do can hurt me."

Mithos cursed under his breath and tossed the chair across the room. The rather large wooden chair crashed into the wall and fell to pieces. Mithos then closed his eyes and clenched his hands. A rainbow of colors sprouted from his back into a large set of elegant, effervescent wings. White Mana began building up around the young half-elf's body like a visible aura. "Solar Flare!"

From the sun hundreds of billions of miles away, several large bolds of white light shot from the surface. They traveled the empty space between the star and the planet in the blink of an eye. When they reached the surface, they destroyed the village of Heimdall. All that was left behind was a glowing hole in the earth and Mithos floating above it looking down into the planet's crust.

"Did you really think that would hit me?" asked Agahnim as he reappeared next to Mithos.

Mithos growled. "I didn't think it would hurt to try," he muttered at last.

"I wouldn't suggest destroying your new, perfect world, Mithos," laughed Agahnim, fading from view. "I hear they're hard to come by."

Mithos spread his wings and took flight. He had to find a way to get free of this bastard. Then he'd kill him, resurrect his sister, and turn this new place called Hyrule into his perfect world. Mithos laughed cruelly as he flew.

* * *

- - - Sylvarant - - -

"…phons… krsshh… Alphons, respond!"

"Message coming in for you, sir." A tall brown haired half elf wearing the standard Kvar black Desian outfit turned to the Desian soldier sitting in front of a computer console. "It's the Cardinal."

"Patch it through…" said Alphons. "Go ahead, your Excellency."

"Commander Alphons," the agitating voice of Kvar said from over the speakers set up around the room. "I trust you've set up the secondary base as per instructions?"

"Affirmative, sir," responded Alphons. He straightened up as if the wiry Kvar were in his face, eyeing him for any signs of betrayal. Hope that the leader had called to check on their progress instead of the failure of subject Alpha-one was kept safely behind a mask of calm, a mask of stone. "All remaining residents of Asgard have been rounded up for the Goddess Project. Security perimeters have been set up at the mouth of the canyon. All soldiers and other staff have been quartered and rested."

"Very good," cooed Kvar. "What is the reason subject A001 regained its former self?"

Alphons faltered. Kvar had been watching the fight after all. "We lost contact with subject Alpha-one not to long ago. We believe that the re-education using the new energy source is unstable and that is why it degraded. The researchers are already nearing a solution to the problem and believe they'll be able to stabilize it in the rest of the subject's group."

"Very well, be sure to take appropriate measures against Signis for failing once and make sure he doesn't fail again." said Kvar, the hard edge in his voice making Alphons wince even across the radio. "How goes the experiments on subjects group B?"

Alphons sighed, happy to report on something that didn't go wrong. "I am happy to report that all of group B reacted violently to the new type of Exsphere and died nearly instantly," said Alphons without a trace of emotion in his voice. "The Exspheres also appeared to have been fully awakened after the pieces of inferior beings were removed from them."

"This is a most interesting turn of events," replied Kvar. "Continue with the experiment as planned. And Commander, I don't expect any problems when I return with another piece of the Proto-Triforce."

The radio cut to static as Kvar turned off his radio. Alphons crossed his arms and nodded his head in thought. He'd have to relay Kvar's displeasure to Signis, which was going to be very easy for him since he was disgusted by the very sight of that stinking inferior Dwarf. Unfortunately, the smelly creature left just after the deployment of Alpha-one to head back to the primary base. His punishment would have to wait until the experiment was complete.

"C-commander!"

"What is it," snapped Alphons.

"There are intruders in the base," said the jittery Desian. "Two of them. They're attacking the guards around the holding area for the inferior beings."

"What?!" shouted Alphons, "Why didn't they set off the sensors?! Bring it up on the main viewer!"

At the front of the small command center, in the middle of the two work stations, the holographic projector lit up. The image that Alphons demanded appeared a few seconds later just as Zelos stabbed one guard through the gut with his sword. Zelda appeared behind him, shouting something and holding up her hand. Seconds later a large fireball was sent into a group of Desians, foiling their attempt at running heroically and saving the day.

"I don't care who they are," shouted Alphons, "just kill them now! And go to full alert too!"

"Sir," said one of the two technicians. Alphons didn't know who, but at this point he didn't care. His death was assured if the experiment failed, and that was if Kvar was merciful enough to forget about the lost forces and inferior beings. "Sir! They're freeing the inferior beings!"

"Get every able bodied soldier down there, now!" shouted Alphons. He watched as more and more Desians appeared on the scene, only to be taken down quickly by the female mage. The more Alphons watched her dance about the room, flinging spells left and right, the more the heat of his anger built. He reached the boiling point when she destroyed the camera in the corner of the room.

"That's it," he shouted. Alphons jumped to his feet and clenched his hands in front of him. "If you imbeciles can not do this right, then I'll do it for you. Get out of my way." Alphons grabbed the Desian sitting in front of the console between him and the door by the neck and flung him into the wall. Then he stormed out of the room and down the hall toward the reactor chamber.

As soon as he entered the chamber he snapped his fingers, sending the machines there into a frenzy of activity. The lights all blinked on, the computer screens and holographic projectors all turned on, the robotic arms turned on and moved into the ready position, and in the center of the room was the small bit of the Proto-Triforce that Link had taken from the Dungeon underneath Efreet's cavern. It was floating inside the middle of a cylindrical column of transparent light, the small crescent giving off pulses every so often.

Alphons stopped in front of a console that had more in common with a piano than a computer keyboard. After cracking his knuckles, Alphons started typing, saying out loud what he typed in as he did so. "Start Goddess Project Phase Three. Maximum power. Close Doors Alpha-x 3 through Alpha-x 5. Start warm up phase. Target Inferior Beings within closed rooms."

Alphons stopped typing and watched the computer start scrolling data across the screen. The holographic projectors produced an image of the rooms in question, all the prisoners that Zelda and Zelos had just moments before saved were now trapped inside of two room. The two miscreants were nowhere to be seen, but the rooms were crowded so it was likely they were caught up in there somewhere. Alphons smirked. It turned out that all their efforts only sped up his own plans.

"Five minute warm up phase starting now, Goddess Project Phase Three will begin at the end of this count down," announced a loud feminine voice. "Once begun, phase three may not be stopped until completed. Four minutes and thirty seconds left until activation."

"Sir! The perimeter sensors have activated! Someone has entered Asgard!"

Grumbling, Alphons leaned over the enormous keyboard and snapped the switch for the intercom on with a flick of his pointer finger. "Say again," he said, "someone's gotten past our security perimeter. Is it the Cardinal and his group? Have they returned?"

"No," replied the security officer, "it appears to be the group that Alpha-one was fighting. They appear to have broken past the security line somehow and are now headed toward one of the abandoned hotels."

"If they don't show any sign of moving on the base, just leave them alone. For now, don't do anything to let them know we're here. When Phase Three is finished, then move in and capture them all."

"Affirmative."

* * *

- - - Balacruf Mausoleum - - -

"Group Five, you're going in next. Find out what happened to Group one through four and finish the mission… or else." Kvar stopped pacing back and forth in front of the five man group of Desians standing before the entrance to the dungeon below the Mausoleum. "And hurry, I don't have all the time in the world to wait."

"Yes sir," said all five Desians with a stiff salute. They quickly turned and marched into the yawning hole in the wall. Inside the dark cavernous room, the five quickly found a set of stairs in the floor and descended. They followed the path of lights laid out by the first groups that ventured into this underground labyrinth. Group five quickly navigated down the long and steep stone stairs and through the maze of tunnel that followed. Finally, they emerged from the maze into another cavernous room with nothing but a deep dark pit in the center of the room.

"So, another has come to test their strength," bellowed a deep voice. The syllables echoed around the room as the Desians raised their weapons and stood in a defensive pattern. "Very well, descend into the pit and test they mettle against that which you cannot comprehend."

Group five's leader held up a hand and pointed forward, directly toward the deep pit in the center of the room. All five ran forward and stopped just at the edge. As one they leaned over and peered as best they could into the pitch black darkness. The leader pulled out an anchor and a hammer, intent on driving it into the ground so that he could attach a line to it and rappel down, but before he even got that far, he noticed that there already were five anchors already driven into the ground around this hole. Apparently, they hadn't been the first ones to discover it.

A line was already attached to the five anchors. Curious, the leader began retracting the rope and the four other members of his group followed suit. After several minutes, the leader pulled the last of the rope up and found the end to be frayed, as if cut. The same thing was found on the other ropes.

All five group members swallowed audibly. Each of them remembered clearly as a bell the hanging threat Kvar made before they'd entered, _"… or else."_ Not wanting to find out what 'else' was, they each attached a new rope onto the anchors and after a quick leap of faith, plummeted into the darkness.

Moments later, screams filled the air. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

* * *

- - - Hyrule - - -

"Come on!" snapped the Desian as he flicked his whip. The length of leather cracked loudly upon the backs of the Hylians. "Move those blocks of rock already! What do you think this is? A day care service for the inferior beings? NO! This is where you work! Now move it!" The Desian whipped another Hylian across their back, eliciting another gasp of pain.

Each prisoner's drab burlap sack of a cloth that was considered clothing by their captors restricted their movements. This in turn gave their Desian overseers excuse after excuse to taunt, harass, and outright beat the enslaved Hylians. If a Hylian with the strength to work past the hindrance of their clothing came along, the Desians whipped them anyway.

Looking upon this scene from the top balcony cut out of the mountain as part of the Temple was Pronyma. Behind her stood an Angel with its wings folded behind it. The room connected to the balcony was small, meant only as a ready room for a priest about to lead the masses gathered below in prayer to the Goddesses.

"What your report," asked Pronyma. She didn't turn to face the Angel. She couldn't stand looking at their pallid, unresponsive faces.

"The invasion of the neighboring countryside is progressing quickly," the angel said. Not a syllable had any emotion. It was unnerving, but Pronyma had gotten used to that by now. "Also, scouts flying across the planet have discovered a few islands with sizable populations upon them as well as another two smaller continents aside a much larger one on the opposite side of the planet. A large clock tower was spotted on the coast of the larger continent. Other places of interest on the continent were a large statue of a frog in the middle of a desert, a tall tower carved out of lava rock, and a city floating on top of a lake.

"Locally, several more races and groups of natives have been identified as possible subjects. The "Gerudo" live in the Desert to the east of here. The "Gorons" make their home on the slopes of the live volcano not far from this position. The "Zora" live in and round the spring to the east that provides water for this region. The Forest to the south also holds many forms of life, but nothing identifiable has been found. The last of the Hylians are gathering in side of a fortified residence also believed to be their capitol."

Pronyma sighed and glared down the mountain slope with contempt and ignored the Angel's report. How could her beloved Mithos do this to her? Reduced to a lackey of all things?! However, if this is what he wanted, then she'd carry this mission out with all due diligence. She turned around and wearily walked back into the small ready room. The angel continued without pause.

"The production of new Exspheres has begun. The project has been headed up by Grand Cardinal Forcyst-"

"Enough," Pronyma said loudly. "I am tired of hearing nothing but reports. This far off land with a large clock tower sound mildly interesting. I believe I'll take a contingent of Desians and Angels and conquer that land next."

"Very well," said the Angel.

"Report back to your duties," Pronyma said as she walked passed the angel, not giving the winged creature a second look.

"Very well," she heard the angel say.

* * *

- - - That Night, Hylian Holding Cells - - -

"Big brother," whimpered a fragile voice, "is it safe to talk now?"

"I don't know who's talkin," shouted a Desian, "but you better shut up, 'nless you want me to whip ya!" The Desian in question walked up to the red tinted force field and tapped it a few times with the back of his hand. Waves of crackling and snapping energy raced across its surface. When no one said anything, the Desian sneered at the group of Hylians and turned away, muttering, "Stupid inferior beings."

"Maria, you have to whisper," said a young boy in hushed tones.

"I'm sorry," whispered the small girl. "I'm tired, big brother. I miss Father. When is he coming to save us?"

Jeaco didn't respond immediately, instead he forced away the emotions that the last memories of his father brought to the forefront inside of him. Finally, he said, "I don't know when Father will come, Maria. I just…" The young boy choked up as the memory of his father being stabbed through the head played through his tortured mind once again.

Maria latched on tightly to her bother. She cried as he cried, though she didn't fully understand why Jeaco was crying. "It's okay, big brother," she said through her tears, "We'll wait together for Father to come save us." Jeaco was only able to nod and hold his sister tightly.

Not too far away, sitting with his back against the wall, was a rugged Hylian with arms as thick as a Gorons and the strength to match. He chuckled lightly as he watched the siblings crying. So much emotion, something he envied them for, but only a little.

"Is it so funny for them to miss the comforts of a loving parent, in a situation like this?" asked the man sitting next to him.

The buff Hylian didn't turn his head to look at the other man, but kept watching the children. "No, Reid, I was just thinking about how I've never had much use for those emotions."

"I doubt a block head like you ever had them," replied the man named Reid. He was thinner, more gaunt looking. A striking difference to the buffed up, muscleman next to him.

"Oh, I had them, but my mother beat them out of me and my father ran them over with the family pack mule."

"Right, Sykes, right," said Reid obnoxiously. After watching the sibling falling asleep for a few moments, Sykes turned and started to say something to Reid, but stopped. "What?" he asked.

"You look like Deku crap," said Sykes. "Why don't you let me take more of you're work load tomorrow?"

"Heh, not like these crazies will let you. And for your information, you look worse than I do." Reid leaned his head back against the wall. "What was it that you were going to ask?"

Sykes leaned back against the wall and grunted. "I was just going to ask when you were finally going to get sick of this and blow a hole in the fence so we can all escape."

Reid glanced at Sykes knowingly for a few seconds and then said, "I know you were going to ask something about why these invaders are doing this, but whatever." Sykes sniffed, put off once again because Reid had seen right through him. "I have not done so because of two things. One, there's more of them with more of their superior weapons than just you and me. And two, this stupid emerald they stuck on the back of my hand is sucking the magic right out of me."

Sykes lifted his own hand up and looked at the gem implanted there. "What are these things anyway?"

"They're special gems called Exspheres." Both Reid and Sykes turned to their left and looked at a man lying in the middle of the floor. "I overheard one of the guards talking about it. Apparently these things are being grown on us."

"Alright," said Sykes. He quickly grabbed the gem and the back of his hand and pulled. "That's enough reason to take this thing off."

"I wouldn't do that," said the mysterious man.

"What else did the guard say," asked Reid.

"They also laughed at the possibility of getting to kill the ones who turned into monsters before the Exspheres were done growing. My guess is if we try to do anything to these things, we turn into monsters and they kill us. Of course, I'm also guessing that when they're done growing, we'll still turn into these monsters. Either way, it doesn't look good for us."

"Great," said Sykes. "Damned if we do, damned if we don't."

"Who are you anyway," asked Reid. "I don't remember seeing you out in the yards."

"I'm one of their special projects," said the mysterious man. "I spend all day in some room with a bunch of smelly potions and equally smelly alchemists."

"Wouldn't they keep you in some other cell?" asked Reid.

"Beats me. All I know is that by the end of every day I feel like my blood is like liquid fire and my skin is colder than a Yeti's behind."

"Quiet down in there!" shouted the Desian guard. He walked up to the force field again and tapped it a few times. More bolts of crackling power danced across its surface. This time though, the guard didn't move, just stayed there, staring into the crowed cell. It would only be a few more hours before the Desians opened the cells and brought the Hylians out to work another day of hard labor.

* * *

- - - Sylvarant Base, Sylvarant - - -

Shelcy Persis pulled her hair as hard as she could. For hours now, the base computer was throwing every error it had at her, including a few she'd never seen before. Some of these were due to broken data and power cables around the base due to the last quake. Others were due to the power surge caused when the Teleporter was activated. The rest were being pulled out of thin air because Shelcy did not have any clue what a transducing switch had to do with urinals on the second level. And if she didn't address the problems fast enough, which she was physically incapable of, the computer changed the problem and gave her a slew of new one.

"What the hell does a security breach in the kitchen have to do with a chicken on the roof?" the poor blond woman groaned into her hands. Jestin Beask looked at the haggard systems operator for a few seconds. Sure, the com systems were also affected by whatever was wrong with the base computer, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the core computer Shelcy was dealing with.

Just before Shelcy could slam her pounding head down into the console in front of her, the door at the back of the room slid open and Yuan walked in. "Report," he ordered. Shelcy looked at Jestin pleadingly and he nodded.

"Sir, communications base wide are nearly stabilized. Work crews are still replacing cables through some of the more damaged sectors. Right now, all those communications affected are being rerouted through other cables causing a four second lag. Bandwidth priority is being divvied up according to rank. Also, the Engineers have inspected the transmitter on the roof and found the dimensional array damaged by the quake. They said it will be some time until it is fully functional again."

"That's okay," Yuan said to himself, "it's not like we even have enough power to use it. What about the groups outside the base. Have any of them reported in?"

"Only Lord Kratos, sir," said Jestin. He typed a few commands into the computer in front of him and the transcript of what Kratos said appeared on the central holographic projector. Jestin read it aloud. "Found one boy, heading to Asgard to rest."

"That's all he said," asked Yuan.

"That's all he said out loud," said Jestin, "but he also sent a coded text-only message. I forwarded that to your personal work station inside your office."

"Very good," said Yuan. He turned to Shelcy and paused. "Do I even want to ask?"

Shelcy turned and gave Yuan a grim look. "Sir, the main computer is bugged out. My guess is that some of the control crystals and electronic boards were damaged during the quake. I can't know for sure until someone checks it out in person. Until then, I get to deal with this over grown piece of… Oh, not again!" Shelcy pounded her fists into the console, which was showing a new list of problems that made even less sense than the ones previous.

"I'll go check on the computer Core," said Yuan. "We can't have the main computer falling to pieces now."

"Sir!" Yuan turned around and faced the Lieutenant that ran up to him. "I have a message from Lord Botta. He says that you're needed in the Hanger."

"Do you know why?" asked Yuan.

"Oh… um, yes, the people in there are getting restless and rowdy. Lord Botta said you'd want to be the one to address their concerns." The lieutenant wiped the sweat from her forehead and let out a deep breath. "Also, the elevators are not working."

Yuan stared at the lieutenant with an air of incredulity. "Lieutenant, are you telling me that you ran up seven flights of stairs, from the hanger to here?"

"Yes, sir," the Lieutenant nodded vigorously. "I mean, I did rest for a few seconds half way up here, but more or less, yes."

"I think after all this is settled, you're due for a promotion," said Yuan. "For now though, I want you to help Colonel Persis fix the main computer."

The Lieutenant stood stiff and saluted as Yuan walked past her and out the door. When the door closed behind her, she immediately doubled over and her breathing became intensely labored. Several seconds later she fell to the floor, still breathing heavily.

"I haven't seen you around here before," said Jestin. "What's your name?"

"I'm Sura Elist," she replied, standing up. She glanced around the control room, at all the empty seats and unmanned consoles. "Where is everyone?"

"Out fixing their systems in one manner or another," said Shelcy. "You ready to get to work?"

Sura saluted and said, "Yes sir, Colonel Persis, sir!"

"Good," said Shelcy, "then head down to sub-level A and report when you arrive. I'll give you further instructions when you get there."

"Affirmative!" Sura turned and bolted out the door almost before it was completely open.

"Oh, and Lieutenant Elist," Shelcy called out.

Sura's head suddenly popped back through the door. "Yes, Colonel?"

"Walk, don't run."

Sura grinned sheepishly. "Yes, Colonel."

* * *

Well, that's all for this chapter. Wow, several weeks to write too, how lame is that? Three weeks… too long. I really must work on getting these out faster.

**Link**: "You're telling me… And what's with that beginning? Am I really dead?"

No, that was just a joke. Hehehe… I wanted to play it on April fools day, but then I had to write the rest of the chapter. Man, this was harder to write than I thought it would be. Must be 'cause I didn't really have all these secondary plots outlined at all until now. (They're still kind of shaky). Anyway, sorry again for the wait, please review!

**Link**: "And thanks for reading!"


	20. Balacruf Dungeon Part One

And the reviewers are?

**Link**: "_**Canada Cowboy**_, _**freakyanimegal456**_, _**Jenova Remnant AKA Fishie**_, _**Toyax**_, _**Rini Tsukino**_, _**Poet Bucky**_, _**eliteforce**_, and _**Amekoryuu**_."

Alrighty. Thanky very much! I'm gonna keep this short. Dark Link, do the disclaimer or else I'll turn you into a girl that likes pink ponies and rainbows.

**Dark Link**: (_Gasp_) "You… You're evil. Such a vile force has not been known since… forever. I hate you."

Good, now say the disclaimer, and do it nice, not like last time. If you do, I'll turn you into a pink pony, rainbow loving girl anyway.

**Dark Link**: (_Grumbling_) "I.K.A. Valian does not own Tales of Symphonia or the Legend of Zelda. Just original plot, characters, ideas, etc."

Thank you. Now, just to inform you readers of what's going on, I plan on splitting the Sylph dungeon into three parts (or at least I'll try), and in between each part, I'm placing a chapter that follows Kratos' group. This is because these two parts of the story happen at the same time and I don't want to do back flashing (or jumping into the past and then telling the story up to the present). Now you readers are not allowed to be confused.

**Link**: "Though if you are, you can still ask for clarification."

Onto the story.

* * *

- - - Sylvarant - - -

Link's eyes snapped open. He lay still for several moments, staring up at the hole that he'd just fallen through. He also didn't want to aggravate the throbbing pain in the back of his neck.

The room he lay in was dark, really dark. The only light came from the hole in the ceiling that he'd created. Funnily enough, it was sort of Hylian shaped, if one looked at it sideways. The area of the room now illuminated by the spotlight from above included Link and a chest covered in glossy moss.

Link glanced at the chest and groaned. He could feel it calling out to him, over and over, _'open me'_. Link resisted the call. Partially because his neck still hurt as if it had a knife stuck into it, and partly because he didn't want to find out what was inside the chest.

"Goddesses," grunted Link, "when I asked guidance, I didn't mean into a hole." With a heave, Link rolled onto his front and pushed himself onto his knees. He sat there rubbing his neck and rolling his head around, trying to work the pain out. "I guess I should look at whatever is inside that chest."

Link closed the distance between him and the mossy chest on hands and knees. The floor was littered with pieces of dirt and grass from above, as well as pebbles and sand, all of which Link was forced to push out of the way as he crawled. When he finally reached the chest, he ran his fingers over the green mossy surface and then gripped the lid at the corners.

Link heaved as hard as he could, expecting the moss to resist. The lid snapped open like a well greased wheel. Link, as a result, lost his balance and fell face first into the chest.

"Ow…" Link grabbed the edges of the chest and pushed himself up. Then he stood still massaging his face and his neck, which now hurt even more. "I was not… expecting that."

"Greetings." Link froze. He split his middle and fourth finger to look past his hand. Below, sitting in the only object inside the chest, a small oblong shallow bowl, was a fairy. It stretched its wings and arms as it yawned seemingly too long for someone with lungs that small. Then a pale blue glow enshrouded the small being's body as it launched into the air and flew around the room. "Don't you know that it isn't polite to not respond to someone else's greeting?" asked the fairy. It zoomed up to Link's face, cocked its hips, and crossed its arms.

"Oh… yeah, I'm sorry. I'm Link. Who are you?"

"I didn't ask for your name dummy," the fairy said flatly. "I said I wanted your greeting."

Link blinked a few times, not a single thing to say entered his mind. Finally, he said, "Uh… Hello."

"Thank you!" shouted the fairy happily. It somersaulted backwards and landed on the edge of the chest. "My name is… Oh… I don't remember what my name is. I've been asleep for too long to remember. But I'm not that worried. Just call me Navi."

"Navi the fairy…" Link rubbed his neck as another pain shot down his spine. His sword and shield miraculously were still intact. He expected the shield at least to be snapped in half, but when he pulled it forward to inspect it, the only thing on the wooden surface was a small dent.

Navi flew up to and landed on Link's head, getting comfortable on the brim of his floppy green hat. "If you fell down from that hole, why are you only now looking for damage?" she asked.

Link shrugged and put the shield back over his shoulder. "I didn't remember that I was wearing it until just now."

"Oh, well, now that you're all set, take that mask and let's get out of here." Navi leaned back into Link's hat and stretched out. Her small gossamer wings twitched every now and again, but for all the world, she looked like she was sleeping.

"Didn't you say that you were asleep inside that chest?" asked Link as he bent over and picked up the small bowl, which turned out to be the mask that Navi spoke of. It was a simple white mask with two eyeholes and a painted on line that served as a nose.

Yawn "Yes, I was asleep. I'm still a little drowsy though, so I'll just nap up here." Link could feel Navi moving about on his head and had to resist the urge to scratch. Link looked down at the mask and then around the dark room. He couldn't see more than two feet beyond the circle of light shining down from above.

"Okay, I have the mask, now what?" Link looked up at the hole in the ceiling. "I can't jump or climb out of the hole. It's too high up."

"Have you tried, I don't know, going out through the hallway?" Navi asked.

"There's a hallway?" Link looked around the room again, but wasn't able to find anything.

"Wow," said Navi, "I actually know more than you. And I don't remember anything."

"Would you just tell me where it is?" Link grumbled.

"And that makes me wonder, why did you come in by hole in the ceiling? Why didn't you just use the front door? It was clearly marked."

Link ground his teeth together. "Navi."

"Hmm, what?"

"Just tell me where the hallway is…" Navi leaped off of Link's hat and floated forward into the room. She flitted this way and that way. "You do know where it is, right?"

"Uh…" Navi continued to flit this way and that about the room, her flight pattern becoming more and more erratic. "Um, it's…"

"You forgot that too, huh?"

Navi frowned, or at least, she stopped mid air and her glow shifted down a shade or two. "That's odd. I know there's a hallway, but I don't remember where…"

Link sighed and pocketed the mask. "There's got to be a way out of here," said Link. "I guess we'll just have to find this hallway that you're talking about." Navi's wings drooped, but she flew over and hovered around Link. The two of them went from one end of the room to the other in an orderly and systematic fashion. Soon, the light dulled as the sun dipped below the horizon and cast the landscape into pitch black darkness.

"We've look all over this room," said Link. "There is nothing here but rocks. Rocks on the wall, rocks on the ground, and rocks that keep falling on my head." Link scowled as another pebble bounced off of his head and off into the distance. He rubbed his sore noggin while Navi flew in circles around him.

"I don't know what to say… I know there's a hallway here, but I don't remember where it is. It shouldn't have been a problem." Navi continued to fly in circles muttering to herself.

Link blew the stray hairs of his blond hair out of his faces with a long, exhausting breath. He shoved his hands into his pockets, wishing for a way out of this. He traced his fingers around the edges of the mask in his pocket.

"That's it!" shouted Navi. The high pitched noise made Link's knees jerk, causing him to hop into the air.

"Ow," complained Link, "Did you have to scream."

"Link, I remember why I can't find the hallway. It's because it should already have been opened. It's still sealed off from the outside because you didn't come in the way you were supposed to." Navi was bobbing up and down excitedly. She then zoomed over to the wall, corkscrewed in the air a few times, and then slammed into the wall. The impact created a dull thud. "If I can find out where the sealed wall is," she said, slamming into another area of the wall, "then you can use the mask to blow it open." Navi stopped talking again as she slammed into another wall. "Then we can get out of here and find the monument."

"I'm not even going to ask what you mean by a monument or what you meant by blowing up a wall with the mask." Link unsheathed his sword and said, "I'll take that side of the room." Then he ran across the room. His eyes were nearly fully dilated now so he could pretty easily see the wall from the little bit of light Navi emitted. He came to a stop just in front of it and swung his sword. The metal gave off a low pitched "thwang".

"That doesn't sound hollow," he muttered to himself. He moved a little bit ways down and repeated the process, getting another "thwang".

Finally, in the center of the last wall they were knocking on, Link found a very hollow "tink" sound. Navi slammed into the wall, just to be sure, threw her small body at the wall. The small thud was higher pitched than the rest of the wall slamming she'd done moments before.

"I think this is it," she said, teetering back and forth. She landed haphazardly on the brim of Link's hat. "Whoa… I don't want to do this anymore."

"Alright," said Link, "we found the fake wall. Now what?"

"Use the mask to blow it up," Navi said matter-of-factly. Link pulled the mask out of his pocket and stared at incredulously.

"You want me to blow this wall up with this small mask?" he asked, unsure that he heard right.

"Yes," Navi said patronizingly. When Link failed to move, Navi sighed. "Hold the mask to your face." Link stared at the mask for several seconds and the shrugged. He brought the mask up and pressed it against his face. Once that was done, Navi continued. "Now repeat after me."

"Okay," Link said nervously.

Navi jumped off of Link's hat and floated back a few paces. "Bomb," she said slowly, but loud and clear.

"Bomb," repeated Link. Then his eyes widened and he shouted, "Bomb!?"

The explosion was deafening. Swirls of white and yellow energy bounced off of the walls, ceiling, and floor as they dissipated. The wall directly in front of Link shattered as if he'd taken a sledge hammer to a pane of glass. When all the dust and smoke cleared, Link stood alone amongst the rubble and rock.

"Wow," said Navi. She flew up to Link and circled around him. "You certainly over did that, didn't you?"

Link pulled the now black mask off, revealing his face, the only part of him not covered in black soot. He glared at Navi. Navi ignored the looks Link was giving her and flew out of the room and into the hallway.

"Come on," she shouted back into the room. "This way."

Link coughed once, sending a cloud of black soot into the air. His legs shook as he stepped from the epicenter of the blast and made his way into the hallway. His feet left behind outlines of his boots in soot on the floor. Every step he took knocked a little bit of the soot off of him, leaving a trail of black soot and grey ash.

Navi flew up to him and hovered around his head. "Come on already, the way is just around this corner. There are even lights leading the way! How lucky are we?" Having said her peace, Navi flew down the hallway again.

Link took a deep breath and calmed his nerves. Then he shook himself like a wet dog, throwing a majority of the black soot covering him off and onto the floor. Once he was mostly soot free, Link followed after the errant fairy. Along the ground were placed long tube lights that illuminated the long hallway.

Navi floated back and followed Link above his right shoulder as he came to a flight of stairs going down. More tube lights lined the stairs. They cast their eerie light onto the walls of the tunnel.

"Let's go," said Navi confidently, "this way." She dove down the stairs. Link swallowed and started down the stairs as well.

"I thought you couldn't remember anything," said Link. "How do you know where we're going? And why are we going there? How did you know about the mask? Why were you in the chest with it?"

"You know what," said Navi, "you talk too much." She flew back and found her spot on the brim of Link's hat. "I already told you. I don't remember anything. And… I just know that we have to go this way. I can feel something calling out to me?"

Link shifted his grip on his sword. His sweaty palms were making it slip and his arms ached from just holding it this long. Navi made herself more comfortable on his hat, lounging comfortably in its folds.

"Is it a bad voice or a good voice?"

Navi didn't answer immediately. Finally, just as Link stepped off of the last step into a large, dark room, she said, "It's saying that we have to go through the bad to get to the good. Does that make any sense?" Link didn't respond, instead he stared at the humongous rock golem in front of him.

"I think we found the bad," he said.

The rock golem heard this and rotated the top half of its body, the smaller rocks in its mid-section acting as ball bearings. It opened a mouth large enough to eat a fully grown horse in one go and let loose a roar that shook the walls and dirt from the walls and ceiling high above. Some of these fell onto Link's head.

For a few moments the two stared at each other, Link up at the rock golem, the rock golem down at Link. Then Link spoke up.

"First," he said, "why are all the rocks and pebbles in this goddess forsaken place hitting me on the head?" The rock golem stared at Link with its big ruby eyeballs, their red surfaces glinting in the tube light. "Second," continued the boy, "how in the name of the Dark Realm can a rock monster make anything other than grinding noises?"

The rock golem took this as a grave insult. He was a high and mighty rock golem! A _golem_! Not some random rock monster. For this insult, and because this foolish boy thought he could only make rock monster noises, the golem swung its fist around its shoulder much like it had turned its upper body and brought its clenched rocky fist down on the spot where Link once stood.

True enough, the blow knocked more rocks off the wall and ceiling. Some landed on Link's head again, this time knocking Navi off. Fortunately for Link, the rock golem slow and strong instead of fast and strong, this made it very easy for him to avoid being smashed. Unfortunately, avoiding something big isn't any easier if it's moving fast or slow. Such was the case of this rock golem's fist, which was as large as a cow.

Link was grinning though as he avoided each and every one of the rock monster's blows. When the rock monster buried its fist into the wall and found it stuck, Link laughed and reached into his pockets.

"Link, what are you doing?!" shouted Navi. She bobbed up and down, weaving crazily through the air. "You've got to run away from that thing!"

"Don't worry," replied Link knowingly. "I've got these gloves that can shatter diamonds. This guy's made of rocks much softer than a diamond, so he should be no problem."

The rock golem wrenched its fist from the wall, sending down a shower of rocks. Link kept rooting through his pockets even as the rock golem turned its upper body once again to face Link and started making its way toward him.

Navi shuddered nervously and started flying in circles around Link. "Uh, I don't know if you've noticed," she said, "but there's a rock golem walking directly toward you and you're standing on the edge of a cliff."

Link nervously looked behind him to find that the ground did indeed drop off suddenly into darkness. He failed to notice that when he ran over here. He did notice though that there was another ledge across from the one he currently stood on, possibly only seven feet away. And there was even a bridge laid across it.

Link looked back at the rock golem and then ran for the bridge. Navi followed quickly behind him, hovering over his right shoulder.

"What happened to those gloves you were talking about?" she asked as he ran across the bridge.

"I can't find them," he shouted. "I guess I never got them back. I don't know where they are."

"Great," Navi shouted back. Link stopped on the other side of the bridge and turned to face the rock golem. "Now what are you going to do."

"Navi," said Link pulling the white mask to his face, "I'd get back." Navi's glow blanched slightly, but she bobbed and then flew off. The rock golem stepped onto the thin bridge. The metal groaned, bowing in the middle. Surprisingly, it held.

The golem walked right up to Link and lowered its face just in front of Link's. Then it opened its huge mouth and roared again. The wind blasted against Link relentlessly. He had to reach up with his sword hand to hold his hat on.

When the monster stopped breathing on him, Link said, "You are one ugly monster." The rock golem growled and prepared to smash its fist down on Link. It would punish this puny fleshling to insult its golem masculinity. Link took in a deep breath and with all his might shouted, "BOMB!"

The resulting explosion blew apart the golem, sending pebbles and boulders alike in all directions. A majority of them fell down the crevice, ensuring that the golem would forever sleep. The white and orange energy that accompanied the blast bathed the two cliffs for minutes on end.

When they finally dissipated, Navi flew back into the area to find utter devastation. The bridge was gone. Parts of the ceilings had collapsed onto the cliffs, one in particular closing off the exit stair way. Rubble was strewn everywhere. And Link was nowhere to be found.

"Link!" shouted Navi. She dodged left and right, going from one pile of rocks to the next, looking for any sign that the boy was trapped beneath a rock pile somewhere. Hope that he was not resting at the bottom of the crevice drove her on until she found him, buried under a pile of rocks with only his pointer finger sticking out above the rocks.

"Link!" shouted the fairy. "Thank the heavens you're alive!" Link groaned from beneath the pile of rocks. Navi landed on the pile of rocks and shouted, "What was that, I can't hear you under all these rocks."

The rocks began shifting and rolling to the side. Suddenly Link's head popped up through the rocks. He had a few nasty cuts on his face. One in particular was spilling red blood over his right eye and down his cheek.

"I said, why do all the rocks keep falling onto my head." Navi laughed and jumped onto Link's head as if to tackle him.

"Don't ever put that much magic into that mask ever again," she shouted tearfully. "It could have killed you!" Link chuckled wearily, ignoring the crying fairy beating on his face.

* * *

And there ya go, Sylph Dungeon Part One. I don't know if anyone knows this, but before I do any of these dungeons, I actually pull out some graph paper and draw it. The Efreet Dungeon had to be redrawn slightly for plot convenience (and because I didn't want to write Link retracing his steps so many times). All in all though, it's pretty handy. Maybe I should post these maps on the internet so all you guys can see them. What do you think?

**Link**: "I think that it would be a good idea to post these things on the Internet, that way I'll be able to avoid all the dangers and things, like that rock monster.

**Rock Golem**: "RAWR! You call us rock golems "rock monsters" one more time, puny fleshling."

**Link**: "Aahhh!" (_Runs away_)

**Dark Link**: "Coward. Afraid of a little rock monster. Feh!"

**Rock** **Golem**: "RAWR!" (_Smashes Dark Link into little itty bitty pieces_) "Rock Golem! Not rock monster!"

Wow… that guy's got a temper. Anyway, Please review! And don't forget to point out those spelling errors and other grammatical things that some of you just love to find. I really appreciate it.

**Link**: (_Whimpering_) "And thanks for reading!"


	21. Asgard, The City of Ruins

And the reviewers this time are _**Canada Cowboy**_, **_Jenova Remnant AKA Fishie_**, _**eliteforce**_, _**Poet Bucky**_, _**Toyax**_, _**NightmareSyndrom**_, _**Amekoryuu**_, _**Rini Tsukino**_, and _**mandrakefunnyjuice **_(x2). Thank you very much! Link, Poet Bucky gave you a cookie. What do you say?

**Link**: "Thank you for the cookie, Bucky." (_Scarfs down cookie_)

Today, Link will do the disclaimer.

**Link**: "I.K.A. Valian does not own Tales of Symphonia or The Legend of Zelda."

Thank you, Link, now onto the story. Oh, just a reminder, this chapter will focus on Kratos' group. We'll get back to Link in the next installation.

* * *

The door of the Vortex Inn creaked open as Kratos entered. He quickly moved to a couch and laid Lloyd down. His cape made a flapping noise as he pulled it off and covered the boy with it. Sheena, Genis, and Raine still stood in the doorway, watching Kratos carefully. None of them had ever seen the man crack so much as a smile before, and here he was, rushing to comfort Lloyd as if it were the most normal thing for him to do.

Kratos finished tucking his cape around Lloyd and then noticed the looks he was getting. He silently stared at them, as if to dare them to say something with his eyes. After several uncomfortable moments, Sheena coughed into her hand and walked into the Inn.

"This place creeps me out," she said. "I mean, this is supposed to be a town full of people, right?"

Raine turned in the doorway, where she and Genis still stood, and looked out on the small town built in the rock. When she turned back, she said, "I think we all noticed that when we arrived. But it is rather startling."

"No doubt when the sky went dark earlier and during the earthquakes, the people fled in fear," said Kratos. "I am going to search for food and anything else of use in the shops. Miss Sage, I would appreciate your company."

Raine eyed the mercenary for a full two seconds before she nodded. She didn't like leaving Lloyd alone, but she like the idea of leaving this strange man alone even less. Her thin expression said as much. Her orange coat wrinkled as she bent down and faced Genis.

"Genis, while we're gone, I want you to watch over Lloyd," she said. "If anything happens I want you to come and get me, alright?"

"Sure thing, Sis," Genis said with a nod. He turned and ran into the Inn as Kratos walked past the two. He didn't slow or stop to wait for Raine to catch up. Genis' and Sheena's faces appeared in a window just in time to see Raine catch up to the briskly paced Kratos.

"Ever since the Triet Desert, he's been acting so closed off," said Sheena.

"Yeah," agreed Genis. "He's even more up-tight than usual. I wonder what's wrong."

Sheena turned from the window and moved slowly past Lloyd. When she stopped in front of a wooden chair, a small explosion no louder than a muffled thud caused a cloud of smoke to fill the room. The small blue tailed, tan fox known as Corrine shook himself of the remaining smoke and then leaped up onto Sheena's shoulders just as she slumped into the embrace of the seat of the chair.

"Mmm," she moaned into her hands. "I really need a good nights rest. I can't believe how long I've been awake. It's had to have been over two days now."

"Wow, really," said Genis. He looked out the window again, up at the mid-day's sun still shining brightly at the apex of its journey across the sky. "I-" Genis suddenly opened his mouth wide and yawned for over ten seconds. When he finally came back to the ground, he shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. "I guess it really has been a few days. I wonder why I didn't feel tired until now…"

"It could be the weird night and day cycles," said Sheena. She stroked the furry back of Corrin in her lap. "Corrin, what do you think?"

"Mmm, that feels nice Sheena," cooed the little fox spirit.

"Heh," Sheena chuckled, "a lot of help you are." She looked up at Genis and her expression softened. "If you want to go sleep there are beds back there. I'll wake you if anything happens."

Genis raised his hand and opened his mouth to argue, but ended up yawning once again. Without saying anything, just nodding, the little mage walked past Sheena and into back room where several well made beds lined the wall. He walked up to the first bed he came too, grabbed the edge of the sheets and pulled them down. It was fairly warm in here and he didn't think that he would need them. The moment his silver haired head came into contact with the very soft feather pillow he was out.

* * *

Kratos' foot accelerated until I connected with the door, at which point he shifted his weight and shoved his hips forward at the same time. The end result was the door flying off its hinges into the interior of the shop. Kratos sniffed loudly and then walked past the door wreckage.

Raine followed, but at a much slower pace. She eyed the splinters all over the ground as she stepped over them and the metal hinges that still clinged for dear life to the wall as she passed them. "You don't think that you could have done that in any less violent way?" she asked.

Kratos instead picked up a burlap sack left on the counter and side stepped to stand in front of the piles of food. Raine's nose wrinkled a little at the fresh smell built up in the room as she moved to stand next to Kratos as he picked up a fuzzy white object that looked like it used to be a loaf of bread.

"I don't know how much food we'll find here," said Kratos as he tossed the loaf over his shoulder. It landed on the floor with a soft splat. Kratos started the arduous task of picking and choosing all the good food left in the pile of rotting refuse.

Raine happily left Kratos to his task and perused around the inside of the shop. Finding nothing of interest, she turned and said, "I'm going to look into the window of the other shops we saw on the way past." Kratos' nod was all the confirmation she got. The woman managed to contain her glee for the few moments it took her to leave the mercenary's line of sight.

As soon as she was clear, Raine took off at a quick pace toward the rear of the town. "Finally," she cackled "I can see these ruins that I've always heard about."

The mad professor quickly jogged through the deathly quiet town. Her boots left an echoing crunching sound resounding throughout town with each of her light steps. She left the side street with all the shops and came upon the main thoroughfare. It was a wide brick road that led from the entrance straight to the back of the town where a long winding set of stairs could be seen. The side street she emerged from was one of several that contained shops, Inns, and other archaeological and pilgrimage attractions.

Raine dashed down the brick road and reached stairs at the end quickly. Before she even put a single toe upon them, she bent in half and stared wide eyed at the steps carved from the face of the granite. Each step had intricately carved hieroglyphs covering them, as well as ceremonial art and designs that have since lost their meaning.

Raine stood up straight, took a deep breath, lifted her right foot into the air, and gently stepped onto the first step. When nothing happened, Raine opened her eyes and looked down. Relieved that nothing was damaged, Raine pushed up on the stone step and gently placed her left foot onto the next step. This process went on for some time until the silver haired woman reached to precipice of the monument.

The wind blew fiercely around the ancient structure, tossing about strands of Raine's hair and her coat tails. It blew even more fiercely on the top of the high cliffs that surrounded the ancient monument, which didn't seem to affect the lone black clad Desian laying on the very edge with a pair of binoculars pointed down.

"She appears to be inspecting the ruin, sir," said the Desian. The microphone built into his helmet transmitted his report through the rock and into the darkened command center deep under the ground beneath the town of Asgard.

"Very good," responded the Desian manning the communications consol. "Please continue observing and report in five."

"Affirmative," responded the Desian footman over the static laden connection.

The Com officer tapped an icon on the glowing screen in front of him. Then he waited several milliseconds to hear a click over his headset, signifying the transfer of channels, and said, "Footman J, what is your status?"

"I'm across the street from the Inn that they've take residence in," replied the Desian, his voice broken up slightly by snowy static. "It appears that two of them have gone to sleep. One is sitting in a chair talking to some kind of small creature."

"Copy," said the com officer. "Continue observing and report back in five."

"Affirmative." The com officer leaned back in his chair and blew out a deep lungful of air.

"Warning!" announced a distinctly feminine voice. "Phase Three Initiation Sequence activated. Phase Three commences in two minutes. Clear floor Alpha." The lights overhead, already dimmed, flickered as the bulk of main power was diverted for the experiment.

"Great," muttered the com officer. "More mess to clean up." The Desian turned to the man sitting at the consol next to him and scowled. He was sleeping and his screen lit his face up in different shades as the screensaver, which consisted of a single glowing orb, floated about the screen. "Am I the only one doing my job here," the com officer said to himself.

"Krsss -aw me! Ahhh! Krssss"

The com officer sat up straight immediately and tapped on his screen. The call history said that Footman E had just made a call and that his emergency button had been pressed. Pressing Footman E's icon with his thumb, he nervously said, "Footman E, respond. Why have you activated your emergency beacon? Respond E! Dammit, I order you to respond!"

"Krss This is L, the mercenary is running up the stairs at a quick pace."

"Footman L," said the com officer, his voice shaking, "De- describe what they're doing."

"The man stopped at the top of the stairs and looked for the silver-haired woman. He's spotted her and now he's run over to her. They're arguing… and now the man is dragging the woman away. No wait… they've stopped. Oh shit, he saw m-Krsss"

The com officer placed his shaking hands onto either side of his consol. For a few moments he sat there, with his eyes closed, taking deep breaths and fighting for control of himself. Then he turned to his sleeping compatriot and pushed him as hard as he could.

"Wha-what? I'm up, I'm up!" sputtered the young man.

"Harry, get your lazy ass of the ground and bring up the external defense system," yelled the com officer.

"What for," shouted Harry, rubbing the side of his head that hit the hard floor moments before. "I don't take orders from you."

The com officer was ignoring Harry though, going through touch screen menus as quickly as he could. Finally, he smiled and pressed on the icon he'd been searching for. "Attention all squads," he said. His voice could be heard from the hallway as well as the command center speakers. "More intruders have entered the base. Be on the look out."

"Krsss This is J, the other two have returned to the Inn. The man is covered in blood and the woman looks like she's panicked. What are your orders?"

"Footman J, you're ordered to take out as many of them as you can," said the com officer. "Your sacrifice will not be in vain. We must not let anything interrupt the experiment."

The com system screen flashed once and then the computer started speaking base-wide. "Alert! Phase Three Activated! Alert! Phase Three Activated! Fifteen minutes until completion."

* * *

"Genis!" The small magician groggily blinked a few times up at his sister's panic stricken face. "Genis, wake up!"

"Sis? What's wrong?" Genis sat up on the bed and looked around. "Did something happen to Lloyd?"

"No," she said quickly, "it's not that. Desians have infiltrated the city, they've been watching us the entire time. Hurry up and get ready, we're leaving as quickly as-"

"We're not leaving." Raine turned to Kratos in horror. "We're staying here and disabling them. If we're lucky, one or two of them will know where your other friend is." Raine looked down, deep in thought.

"This is really risky," she said. "With Lloyd unconscious and all of us so tired, it doesn't seem like we have much of a chance."

"Nevertheless, we still must do it. And the Desians will not stop chasing us just because we leave." Kratos turned and walked from the room. Almost as an afterthought, he added "You may run if you wish," just as he left hearing range.

Genis hopped off of the bed and rubbed his eyes. Then he looked at Raine and noticed she was still deep in thought. "Raine," he said, "we can't leave Link in their hands. We have to save him!"

Raine looked up at Genis and then nodded. Determination filled her eyes as she decided that there was no other way than to take the fight to the enemy. Both she and Genis walked from the bed filled room just in time to see the black clad Desian knock the front door open.

Kratos, standing just to the side of Lloyd, spun around, his sword out of its scabbard faster than the eye could see. Sheena jumped up, several cards splayed between her fingers. The Desian didn't move at first, but then he raised his hands up to either side of his head and grabbed his helmet. With a quick jerk he pulled it off and threw it behind him. Then he looked back and forth at each of the people in the room.

"Please," he said, "You have to help me save everyone!"

"And why should we help you," spat Genis. "You're the ones that kidnapped Lloyd and Link. And then you brainwashed them and tried to get them to kill us!"

"I'm sorry," he said, holding his hand up placatingly. "I wanted to help your friends, I really did, but it would have blown my cover." Raine arched an eyebrow. Kratos tilted his head to the side.

"Your cover?" asked Sheena. "What are you talking about?"

"Just after the quakes, the Desians in black showed up here and started capturing all the people in town. I joined them hoping that I could work my way into a position that would allow me to free them all. I was almost there when Kvar came back from the Triet Desert with two kids. After that, I was blocked off from accessing the people. I couldn't save them." Everyone in the room looked back and forth at each other in disbelief. "Then some guy with red hair and a woman with blond hair appeared on the monument. They would have gotten caught if I hadn't hidden them. They said they would try and free the captives. I wanted to help, but they said that I would just get in the way. They'd almost succeeded. But then Commander Alphons went berserk and trapped all the people, and then activated the Goddess Project Phase Three. Please, you've got to help them. I don't know what's going to happen to them. And there are several squadrons of Desians on the way here, you've got to hurry."

Kratos cleared his throat and sheathed his sword. Sheena lowered her cards but didn't put them away just yet. Raine and Genis edged into the room.

"What is the Goddess Project?" asked Raine. Just as she finished speaking, the sounds of feet pounding on the ground filled the air.

"Oh no," cried the young man. "You've got to hurry," he said. He turned around and unsheathed his sword. "In the back of this Inn is a secret entrance to the caverns that the Desians built their base in. Just pull the back corner bed away from the wall. There should be a false floor there. Hurry, I'll hold them back." With that, the red haired infiltrator ran out the door.

"Should we trust him?" asked Sheena.

"We have no other choice," said Kratos as he picked his cape off of Lloyd and reattached it. "Raine, would you and Genis would uncover the hidden entrance. Sheena, I need you to block the door with whatever you can find." Kratos picked up Lloyd from the couch as Genis and Raine raced to the back of the Inn. Sheena slammed the door shut and braced a chair against the handle. Then she hopped back a few feet and positioned herself behind a large cabinet. With a grunt she started pushing the large and heavy wooden piece of furniture toward the door, leaving scrape marks all over the wood floor. Kratos walked past her and into the back room just as Raine slid the trap door from the cave entrance.

The mercenary handed the teacher Lloyd and then jumped down into the hole. He nimbly landed a few feet below and was mildly surprised to find the tunnel lit by tube lights. By the fact that there was an undisturbed layer of dust all over everything, including the lights, he came to the conclusion that no one had been through here in a while.

Looking up, Kratos motioned to Raine and she dropped Lloyd down through the hole. Kratos caught the boy with ease and laid him down on the ground carefully. Then he turned and helped Genis down. Raine came next, she quickly turned and looked Genis over, fretting over a few bumps and scrapes. Finally, Sheena hopped through the hole without any help.

"I was able to block off the window and door with a few things but it won't hold them for long," she said. Just as she finished, the sound of glass being shattered filtered down to their ears. Kratos hopped up back through the hole and grabbed onto the bed that used to cover it. Then he dragged it back over the hole while at the same time climbing back into it. Using the side walls of the cave, Kratos managed to slide the bed and floor cover back over the hole making it look as if nothing was out of place.

"That should delay them for several minutes," he said. He bent over and picked up Lloyd.

The boy groaned as he was hoisted over Kratos' shoulder. His eyes cracked open, as if to limit the amount of light getting in to prevent waking fully. After a few moments of being jostled, he groaned again and took a deep breath. When he started moving around Kratos stopped and dropped the boy onto the ground.

"Ouch," Lloyd shouted. "You didn't have to drop me, you know!"

"Lloyd!" Lloyd was promptly tackled to the ground by Genis. "You're awake! You're alright!"

"Genis, air," he choked out. Genis pulled back from Lloyd, which opened his windpipe, and smiled.

"I'm so happy you're not brainwashed anymore!" said Genis. Lloyd rubbed his neck and looked at Genis awkwardly.

"Genis, I don't know what you're talking about," he said. Now it was Genis turn to look at Lloyd awkwardly. Lloyd stood up and dusted his clothes off. Then he looked around the cave. "Where are we? This isn't more of that cave is it?"

"Lloyd," said Raine slowly, "what is the last thing you remember." Lloyd crossed his arms, thinking hard.

"The last thing I remember was appearing at the beginning of the cave, in that room with all the lava. And then Kratos showed up… and then he was talking to some guy. And… there was an earthquake! That's the last thing I remember. So, did we get stuck in the cave or something?"

"Lloyd, you were kidnapped by Kvar and taken across the ocean to Asgard," said Kratos. "We only recently found you."

"You did!" said Lloyd. He looked around the cave once more. "Then why are we still in a cave?"

"It's a long story," said Raine. "Right now, we have to infiltrate this Desian base and find out where they're hiding Link."

"You mean those dirty Desians got Link too?" shouted Lloyd. He punched his fist into his hand and growled. "I'm going to make them pay." Lloyd turned and started walking down the tunnel.

"Lloyd." Lloyd turned and looked back at the group. "The Desian base is that way," said Genis, pointing the other way.

Lloyd laughed. "Oh, right, I knew that," he said. He spun on his heel and started down the tunnel in the opposite direction. Genis sighed and smiled as his friend passed him by.

"It's good to have you back, Lloyd," he said as he fell into step next to him. Lloyd grinned and nodded back. Raine and Kratos watched the two boys walk further into the cave for several moments before they and Sheena followed after.

* * *

Alphons was happy. The experiment was underway. The Inferior Beings that infiltrated the building first were dead, the second group being hunted. The men were working like a well greased machine. The piece of the Proto-Triforce was humming happily inside its containment field. All was good with the world.

He leaned back in his chair and gave the enormous control board in front of him the once over. Everything was running perfectly. The Third Phase of the Goddess Project was going off without a hitch.

Alphons reached out and pressed a blue button on the consol. The projected holographic image shimmered and shifted. It reformed into several smaller screens showing different sections of the base.

Alphons chuckled. He watched subjected Alpha-One running around killing underlings with his little band of friends. Hey particularly enjoyed with the little traitor to his race cast Fireball and they did little to no damage. And the fact that his older relative also was doing little to no damage against his troops and her healing skills were pathetic. The only spell he saw her cast was First Aid, something even moderately strong humans could do.

He didn't know why he enjoyed watching their futile efforts. Perhaps it was because he was distinctly aware of the fact that two of their members were very skilled fighters in comparison. Perhaps their prowess intimidated him… No. He banished the thought from his mind.

The door behind Alphons hissed open and shut. When he turned around to see who would be coming into the reactor room unheeded, he was slightly irked to find two bumbling footmen. Their uniforms were all messed up. The woman had not tucked the upper vest into the pants or cut her hair off as per regulations. The male was worse, his shirt was half open baring his chest and his pants were hanging loosely around his waist.

"Damn it," shouted Alphons, "Didn't anyone whip you into shape during training! You're both a mess! Not only that, you're here, and not out there fighting the intruders. You will both explain yourselves this instant!"

The male footman turned to the female and laughed. They then both reached up and pulled off the helmets. Alphons felt his breathing stop.

"You see, Princess, I told you it would work." Zelos grinned widely.

"Yes, I can see that," said Zelda. She threw off the top and pants quickly, releasing the remains of her half torn up gown. "Though this one was a lot easier to fool than the two guards back there." Zelos let his eyes wander around the princess' body before he too disentangled himself from the Desian garb.

"I see," said Alphons. He stood up, the chair he was sitting in creaking slightly. He typed a few commands into the enormous keyboard in front of him and then swept around the consol to stand in front of the two. "I thought you were dead, in the transformation chambers with the rest of the Inferior Beings." Alphons shrugged and reached over his left shoulder, grasping onto the cloth wrapped metal hilt that stuck out there. "No matter, now I get to take care of you."

Alphons pulled on the hilt and a battle ax twice as large as he was swung over his head. Zelda visibly paled and Zelos swallowed loudly. Alphons saw the reactions and grinned maliciously. Oh how he loved seeing those looks.

Alphons charged forward. He raised the ax into the air, preparing to bring it down on and split Zelda in half from crown to pelvis. Zelos rammed into the Princess, knocking her to the ground, and then jumped back quickly.

The ax ended up shaving the small hairs from Zelos' nose as well as taking off a few inches of his long red hair. The blade slammed into the ground with loud bang. The flooring cracked outward, as if the metal were shattered glass.

Zelos scrambled up, unsheathing his sword as he went. He spun on his heel, bringing his sword around in an arc, yelling, "Light Spear!"

A white aura covered Zelos' and his sword. The energy focused in on his sword as he spun.

Alphons took the hit directly in the back. He cried out as he was lifted into the air by Zelos' attack.

Zelos' spin slowed to a stop when they'd risen several feet into the air. Instead of simply falling back to the ground, Zelos whipped his sword back and then slammed it down on Alphons, sending him rocketing back toward the ground.

Alphons' body smashed into the ground, causing a tremor to race through the floor that bounced everything not bolted to the ground into the air. Several machines fell over and glass all over the place ended up shattered on the floor.

Alphons lay on the floor grinning. Finally, a challenged. The Desian commander back flipped onto his feet, wrenched his ax from the floor, and shouted, "Yeeeesss! Finally a challenge worth my time!"

"I call upon the goddesses three to grant me the power of Light!" Alphons spun around to face Zelda just as a long rod composed entirely of light appeared. She stood as if holding a bow, the arrow of light floating just about where it should if she did. "This is punishment for all the suffering you've visited upon these people. Light Arrow!"

Zelda tensed her left arm, as if drawing the imaginary string backwards slightly, and then expanded her hand, letting go of the imaginary bow string. The arrow of light launched, morphing and elongating into a beam of white light. The beam shot across the room at the speed of light and penetrated through Alphons' upper right chest. The beam kept going and exploded on the wall behind him, creating a hole as tall as the room.

Alphons stared in disbelief and then another grin cracked his face open. "Yes!" he shouted. "More! I need more!" Alphons noticed the loud footsteps of Zelos and spun around with his ax. "Beast!"

Mana traveled up his arms, along the lengths of his ax, and coalesced around the edged as a blue haze. Alphons then swung the ax around in a wide circle, catching Zelos in the chest. When the ax blade connected, all that blue hazy Mana exploded like a grenade.

Zelos flew backwards, blood leaking from his lips. Alphons laughed hysterically, smashing his ax into anything and everything. Zelda ran over to Zelos to see if he was okay, but just as she reached him, Alphons slammed his ax down into the ground and yelled, "Demon Maw!"

Shockwaves twice as large as the normal 'Demon Fang' lanced across the ground directly at Zelos and Zelda. Zelda leaped over Zelos, grabbing onto his shirt as she flew over him. They'd nearly cleared the zone of impact when the wave of energy ripped through the area. The sleeve on Zelda's left arm fell apart in shreds and small cuts and gashes appeared all over her arm. Zelos, being on his back, had the same thing happen to his right arm.

"Yes!" shouted Alphons. "That's it. Die like the miserable inferior beings that you are. Hahahaha! Die!"

Zelos grit his teeth together. "Princess… you alright?" Zelda nodded, wincing as that movement pulled on the skin along her cut up left arm. "I don't know how long we'll last at this rate."

"I think I can finish him," said Zelda. "It's a spell I was still perfecting, but I believe that I can cast it. I need several seconds for the magic to fully charge. Do you think you can hold him off for that long?"

Zelos grinned. "Anything for a pretty lady." Zelda shook her head and stumbled to her feet. Then she stuck her hands out in front of her and closed her eyes.

Zelos grunted and grimaced as he stood up. When finally standing straight, he leveled his sword, which he now noted was surprising that it still remained in his hands, at Alphons. Alphons grinned and ran forward toward Zelda.

Zelos shook his head and shouted, "Double Demon Fang!" He swept his sword quickly along the ground, sending two waves of energy racing across the ground at Alphons. Alphons jumped over the first wave, but the second wave nicked his feet and dropped him to the floor like a load of bricks.

Black sparks and waves of energy appeared out of thin air and started swirling around Zelda. The blackness swirled and churned, hugging her body and the air around her. A ball of black sparkling energy grew from a small dot to a large pulsing orb the size of a melon in front of her out held hands.

Just as Alphons stood up, Zelda opened her eyes. The two look at each other. Zelda took a deep breath and shouted, "Majora's Wrath!" The black ball of magic launched from Zelda's hand, sucking the black waves and sparks from her body as it went. The Princess dropped to the floor, unconscious.

The black ball floated slowly across the room. Alphons watched it curiously as it approached him. He stepped to the side and watched it fly past. He laughed and turned back to face the two intruders.

"Ahhhh!" He shouted as the black ball suddenly swung around and slammed into his head. Several concussive waves exploded from Alphons' body, sparks of dark energy caused his limbs and extremities to shake and writhe about uncontrollably, and waves of dark magic penetrated his body, sucking up any and all energy there in. After several moments, Alphons fell to the ground, his head caved in and his body ravaged by the dark energy.

Zelos rushed to Zelda's side and stretched her out so that circulation wouldn't be cut off to her legs. Then he turned back to look at Alphons and shook his head. Then he looked back down at Zelda.

"Wow, she sure can pack a punch. I didn't expect that. I'd better be ready for it…"

* * *

Wooo! What do you lovely readers think? It's got action, Ruin Mode, Kratos badassary, Lloyd, Kratos badassary, Zelda badassary, Zelos, Kratos badassary…. Lots of good stuff.

**Link**: "And in the next chapter, you get to see me complete the dungeon in record time!"

Er… no, sorry, but the dungeon won't be done for two more chapters. And a boss chapter, but that's a combo chapter so no splitting up there.

**Link**: "Oh…"

But look on the bright side, Link, you get to fight Dark Link again.

**Dark Link**: "It's about frickin time. That loser needs to be beaten down again. And I'm just the one to do it!"

**Link**: "No! I'm going to knock your socks off!"

**Dark Link**: "Real Link's don't wear socks, loser!"

**Link**: "I'm a real Link and I wear socks!"

**Dark Link**: "Wow, you just got a whole level more lame. Prepare to die, loser!"

**Link**: "Why you… Argh!"

Please review.

**Ubella**: "And thanks for reading. Speaking of next chapter, when am I going to come back in?"

Soon, real soon… mwahahahahaha….

On a side note, I still haven't gotten those maps scanned yet. It's on my to do list so have no fears.


	22. The Melancholy of Zelda

**Link**: "Where did Valian go?"

**Dark Link**: "…"

**Ubella**: "…"

**Rock Golem**: "Mmm..." (_Snores loudly_) "…Smash 'em fleshies…"

**Link**: "Okay… I'll just name the reviewers then. _**Amekoryuu**_, _**Jenova Remnant AKA Fishie**_, _**eliteforce**_, _**Canada Cowboy**_, _**Rini Tsukino**_, _**mandrakefunnyjuice**_, _**Toyax**_, and _**Poet Bucky**_, thank you for the reviews!"

Alright, I'm back! Link, name the reviewers!

**Link**: "I just did…"  
Oh… okay, then. In response to _**eliteforce**_'s comments, which I must again thank you for, I've decided to add a bit onto the beginning of this chapter so that we can all finally know the extent of Link's and Zelda abilities. After this little… flash back of sorts, we'll get back to our regularly scheduled Link in dungeon chapter! You may consider this bonus materiel if you want.

Disclaimer: I.K.A. Valian does not own Tales of Symphonia or The Legend of Zelda.

EDIT (4/27/08): I added a bit onto the end to explain where this chapter fits into the main story. Thank _**Canada Cowboy**_ for pointing it out.

* * *

- - - Hyrule, 3 years past - - -

"Din's Fire!"

A small fireball about the sized of a strawberry left the small hands of a petite young girl. It slowly traveled a short distance away from her and then exploded in a small but loud bang. The girl was breathing heavily, the spell having taken a lot of her concentration and energy to perform.

"Very good, Princess," said a large old man. He walked up behind her, his aged yellow and white robe swaying back and forth, and placed a calming hand on her back. "With a little more practice, you'll be casting that spell in your sleep, eh?"

The young Zelda looked up into the mirthful face of her mentor and grinned. Beads of sweat clung to her upper lip and temples, proof she was indeed putting all she had into it. She took a step backwards and breathed deeply, letting the Magic flow back into a semblance of order within her body once more.

"Din's Fire!"

Zelda's eyes shot open just in time for her to watch a fireball twice the size of her head fly past. It smashed into a practice target set up across the room, blowing the bust of a faceless person into a few good sized chunks. Her eyes were as big as saucers as she watched the debris fly through the air.

The young man who fired the spell off shrugged his shoulders, straightened his academy uniform, and finally, smirked victoriously. Zelda, for some unexplainable reason, felt the bubbles of jealousy rising to the surface. His fire ball was much bigger and explosive than hers.

"Jeffery," said Rauru, "must you flaunt your abilities?"

Jeffery chuckled lightly. "I can't help being so good at what I do. I'm simply the best."

Rauru sighed, shaking his head. "Great pride always precedes a great fall."

"Yeah, yeah," said Jeffery, waving his hand dismissively. Normally, this would be a grave insult to the aged Principle Sage of the Academy for Magic Studies. In this case however, he'd let it slide. Too often he'd berated the boy over the years, and it was true that he had mounds and mounds of talent. It seemed the only way of teaching the boy some kind of humility was for him to fall off the cliff. If pushing the boy off of a cliff would fix the problem, Rauru would gladly do so.

However, young Princess Zelda, brought up amidst an atmosphere of formality, order, and privilege, decided to have her own say. With her arms crossed, she snorted and said, "You will show the proper respect to Sage Rauru." Jeffery looked down on the princess as one looks down at an insolent child. "He is far your superior in magic and in life, you'd do best to obey him."

"Look, _Princess_…" Jeffery never got beyond those words. Zelda had stormed up to him the moment he derided her title and slapped him. The sharp blow echoed throughout the training courtyard. Jeffery stared at Zelda, shocked that anyone, let alone this insolent little girl who barely had control over her magic, would actually dare assault him.

"Princess Zelda," said Rauru, grabbing her hand. She wiggled it about until he let go. "This behavior is not acceptable. Regardless of whatever Jeffery might have said, it does not call for violence. Is that understood?"

Zelda glared at Jeffery for several seconds before her gaze softened and she dropped her head apologetically. She clenched her hands into little fists and looked back up.

"I apologize for slapping you," she said. Jeffery, who still held a hand to the surprisingly resilient red hand print on his cheek, only managed a nod.

"Good," said Rauru, back in his jovial mood. "With that settled, Princess, your lessons for today are done. Lady Impa shall be here shortly to escort you back to the Castle. I have other duties to attend to at the moment. By your leave, Princess." Zelda nodded and Rauru turned and walked slowly from the courtyard.

Jeffery turned to leave as well, but just before he entered the cool shaded interior of the academy, he stopped and faced Zelda once more. In a voice that was barely above a whisper, he said, "Be here. Tomorrow, at noon. We'll settle this then, with a contest of magic."

Zelda's expression twisted from confusion to anger. She brought her clenched fists up and pointed at Jeffery. "You going to wish you'd apologized earlier!" she shouted. Jeffery shrugged again, his cocky smirk back on his lips as he entered the academy.

When Impa appeared to escort Zelda back to the Castle, the fuming princess demanded to be taken to the Royal Library, specifically, to the magic tome depository. Once she arrived, she dove head first into the piles of scrolls meticulously stored there by the clerks. She searched and searched until she found a scroll defining in greater detail the tricks and tips of casting Din's Fire.

Impa, realizing that the poor girl was attempting to prove something to herself, not to the boy she'd posthumously told her that she agreed to duel, decided to leave the Princess to her studies and fetch dinner for her as well as informing the guard where and what she was doing. In truth, she was glad that her Princess was taking more of an interest in her studies. It will be three years before she's even mastered the basic spells, such as Din's Fire, Nayru's Love, and Faror's Wind. If she worked hard, then perhaps she'd even learn a few more spells than that. She was a fast learner, after all.

Moments after Impa left, a shadow fell across the tome section of the library. Fires, candles, and torches alike dimmed until the luminescence they gave off was no better than if they weren't lit at all.

Zelda was too absorbed in reading about a particularly interesting Old Magic spell that summoned snow to notice the shadow. It was always a dream of hers, to see snow in Hyrule. It never seemed to do so, unfortunately. Her father said it had something to do with the mountains around the castle.

"Well, well," came a sly voice, "What have we here?" Zelda's head shot up. She peered into the darkness, finally noticing it for the first time. "Oh, pardon me," said the voice, "I was just passing through, as I normally do at this hour. I didn't know anyone came up here anymore."

"I… I'm studying magic," stuttered Zelda. "Who's there? Show yourself."

"I'm afraid that I cannot. You see, I'm just a spirit. Doomed to wander these halls of knowledge for all eternity. The curators don't see me as much of a threat, otherwise they'd have banished me a long time ago. Perhaps they see me as more of a nuisance. I can not tell what they think."

"You're a ghost?!" Zelda's voice shot up several octaves.

"Precisely. But I'm not a bad ghost. Not like a Poe. No, just a wandering spirit." The voice paused for a few seconds and then asked, "Why are you studying magic at such a late hour? Shouldn't you be safely tucked in bed, at home?"

"I-I have to learn how to cast Din's Fire better than a student at the Academy. He insulted Sage Rauru and myself. His rash deeds should not go unpunished!"

"As well they shouldn't. I take it this means that you challenged him to a duel of magic, but you're unsure of your own skills, or his are far superior to yours and you need something that will… overpower him?"

Zelda frowned. "Yes, but how-"

"Heh, heh, heh. If overpowering your opponent is what you wish to do, then I know of just the spell that will work. It will take some serious study if you wish to master it, but once mastered, no foe will be able to stand in your way."

Zelda's eyes widened. She clasped her hands together and said, "Please, show me the scroll that contains the spell, please!" From out of no where, as seemed to be the way of this mysterious spirit, a scroll no bigger than eight by eleven inches floated down onto the table. It landed squarely in front of Zelda.

She eyed the yellowed document carefully. Tentatively, she reached out shaking fingers and touched the paper, fearing some sort of reprisal for touching it. When nothing happened, she picked up the parcel and started reading.

The next day, at noon, Jeffrey appeared from the shadows of the academy interior. He walked confidently out into the warm morning sunlight bathing the training courtyard. Behind him trailed a group of swooning girls and a crowd of people that wanted to see this "duel" with the Princess. Even some of the faculty showed up. Some showed up out of morbid curiosity, and other out of concern for the participants.

Rauru was the only one not present, until Zelda showed up. She walked into the courtyard, yawning as she walked. Behind her were Impa and the Sage Rauru.

"Are you ready to apologize?" asked Zelda.

Jeffrey smirked and snubbed his nose. "Not likely, _Princess._"

Zelda's eyes narrowed as she watched the girls behind this prick swoon over his "manliness" and his "control" over the situation. She watched him turn, dramatically walk several paces away, and then turned to face the two practice targets set up for the day.

"Princess, I really must protest," began Rauru.

"I must agree with Sage Rauru," said Impa. "A duel is beneath someone of your status. You should simply ignore this knave of a student and return to your own studies."

Zelda took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'm only going to prove to him that I'm not weak. That he's not the best at everything just because of his natural talent." Impa watched her ward with critical eyes.

Eventually she closed them and shrugged in defeat. "I suppose if it kept within the limits of your own skills, then I will allow it." Rauru's mouth dropped open and he turned to Impa with an air of incredulity.

"Impa, you can't be serious!" Impa arched an eyebrow at the old sage.

"Rauru, wasn't it you who was just yesterday telling me how the only way to truly teach is to let the student learn from their mistakes?"

"That-" Rauru stuttered, "that's not to say that… oh, fine. But as long as it's kept to rudimentary spells, then I suppose it is alright."

Zelda smiled, happy to have her guardian's and mentor's approval. She walked cautiously up to the line drawn across the brick with white paint and closed her eyes. With her mind, she equalized the magic in her body so that she could call on it to cast spells. She only learned to do this several months ago. Rauru told her that after a while, she'd do this subconsciously and it would no longer be required, but for now it required a mental effort.

"You _Majesty_," said Jeffery, his tone bored and dull. "If you are ready, then we can get on with this show of my awesome might."

Zelda pursed her lips and motioned for him to go first. Jeffery immediately dropped his smirk and faced the target. With a wave of his hand, he shouted, "Din's Fire!" and sent a large fire ball, the virtually the same size and velocity as the day before, hurtling toward the faceless bust. In seconds, pieces of the statue were falling all about the place, some even landing as far back as the two duelers.

Zelda set her jaw and faced the target. She raised both out in front of her and closed her eyes. She concentrated on her magic, tugging it slightly out of the balance she'd placed it in before, concentrating it in her hand. She could feel her finger tips tingling. The waves of heat roiling around the back of her hand tickled the small hairs there.

Remembering the things she read about the night before, she said, "Oh Great Goddesses Three, Grant me they power, To vanquish mine enemies. Din's Fire!" Zelda whipped around in a circle, snapping her arm like a whip.

The magic pooled in her shoulder. As her body snapped to a stop, the fire magic launched up the length of her arm like a cannon. The resulting fireball erupted from her palm like a flaming Keese out of the Dark Realm. Its bulk was twice as large as Jeffery's and its speed was phenomenal, so fast that it left a buzzing in the ears of all watching.

The statue that was her target did not explode, it disintegrated. Everyone watching, even the birds and insects, fell silent. Either in awe or fear. Zelda was ecstatic. She'd done it, just like the scroll had said. Sure, her arm was numb, but she had the most satisfied feeling in the world right then.

"Psh," he scoffed, "just a fluke. No one can learn to cast a spell like that in one day. Get some more targets out here so I can show her how it's really done." Two young men ran out and placed two more stone statues on the old one's stands. They then high tailed it out of there as if the Dark King himself were chasing them. "Now just try and best this, little _Princess_."

Zelda puffed her cheeks out in annoyance. Jeffery ignored the royal heir and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Then with a quick parallel punch forward, he shouted, "O Goddess of Fire and Flame, Grant me they power… Din's Wrath!"

The temperature in the courtyard rose quickly to sweltering. The high heat made it seem like the air was moving, mirages formed everywhere. It became almost as sweltering as the Gerudo Desert. Streams of pure flame erupted from the ground underneath the statue. This time, Jeffery's target was the one to disintegrate.

Once the heat and fire magic had dissipated, Rauru looked like he was about to step in, but Impa grabbed his arm and held him back. She'd seen some of the spell that Zelda had been reading up on. It was possible that she would attempt to cast the spell that made snow.

Zelda was concentrating again, this time though, she started speaking, not relying on her mind to focus her magic, but instead her words. "Powers above, Powers below, powers of all those in between. Release the one bound by fate, the one who howls in the north." Zelda frowned, something wasn't right. Something was trying to force its way out of her. She felt sick giddy at the same time. She slowed her speech, trying to force the mantra out. "Life… and Death… Light… and… … … Daaaaark" Zelda, in the middle of speaking with her eyes closed, lost her balance and fell over.

The spell which she'd been charging up, exploded from above her, covering most of the courtyard with snow. Zelda, in the epicenter of the blast, was untouched. She shook her head of the pounding pain growing in there, just behind her eyes, and managed to get back to her feet. When she saw the damage she'd done, she lost all ability to speak.

Rauru was the worst affected, he looked like a yeti with all the snow covering him from head to toe. Being so close to Zelda, he'd gotten a majority of the blast. Impa peeked out from behind Rauru and then consciously swept past the rigid old man to stand next to him, as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Wow, and here I thought that royalty was better than everyone else at _everything_. I guess it appears that I was wrong." Jeffery wiped the melting snow from his face and hair. Pointing at the snowy mess in the courtyard, he said, "This is what I call pathetic. She can't even control an Old Magic Spell. They're the easiest to cast. Even a novice like you," he pointed at Zelda, "should have been able to cast that. What were you doing before today, practicing drinking tea?"

Zelda lowered her head and glared at the bastard as best she could. Jeffery laughed at her. "Awe, how cute. I think I made her angry."

"Apologize now or you'll be sorry," said Zelda heatedly. In the back of her mind she was already gathering the magic for the spell she worked on all night. Rauru shook his head, casting snow off of his head in sheets. A sudden shiver crawled up his spine as he did so. He immediately looked around, but then assumed it had to have been the cold from the snow.

"Why would I apologize to a novice like you," said Jeffery matter-of-factly. "You should be apologizing to us for blasting us all with your poorly controlled spell."

"If you won't apologize, then I'll make you pay!" Zelda threw both of her hands forward. Black sparks began appearing all around her in the air. Black energy spiked and started swirling around her whole body like a black flame. Rauru's eyes flew open wide in shock and his face visibly paled. Impa bolted forward in an instant. But she was too slow as Zelda shouted, "Majora's Wrath!"

All the black energy was sucked up into a black ball floating just in front of Zelda's hands. The ball launched forward at such a ridiculously slow speed that Jeffery was laughing even as he stepped slowly to the side to let it pass.

The moment the sphere left Zelda, she fainted. Impa was there in an instant, ready to catch her. Rauru was raced toward Jeffery, holding his white magic covered hands out toward the boy as he went.

"Nayru's Compassion!" shouted the old sage. A deep blue shield grew around Jeffery, who was now only just beginning to comprehend the seriousness of the situation. Never in his entire lifetime had he ever seen Rauru, old man of the Kingdom and Sage of Light, terrified.

Jeffery turned to run, but the moment his back was turned, Majora's Wrath whipped around and slammed into the blue shield around him. For several moments, the two powers fought, Nayru's Compassion versus Majora's Wrath. In the end, Majora's Wrath won out.

The blue shield shattered like fine china and the black sphere slammed into the back of Jeffery's right shoulder. Black sparks erupted from the impact zone across his body. He floated mid air, screaming a lifetime of pain in several seconds.

Fortunately for Jeffery, Nayru's Compassion had drained a lot of the power from Majora's Wrath. But by the time the effects of the spell wore off, the boy was unconscious and his breathing was shallow. Rauru skidded to a stop on his knees next to the boy just as he landed on the ground. Residue black sparks still jumped across his body, causing it to twitch uncontrollably.

The old Sage began casting every healing spell he knew. All the students by now had either fled or kept on watching, their morbid curiosity getting the better of them once again. Panic ensued at the Academy that day. All classes were canceled for that day and the next.

Zelda woke from her coma a few days afterward. Her father was at her side immediately, asking how she was, if she was ok, all the fatherly questions that a father must ask when his child has been injured in some way or form. When he finally believed her please of health and wellness, he stood up, shaken, but relieved.

The King stood up and walked to the doctor. Then the two of them walked outside of her bed chambers, leaving her alone with Impa. Impa sat down on the bed and placed a hand on Zelda's shoulder.

"Princess, there is something I must know." Zelda looked up into Impa's eyes and recoiled. They were hard, calloused. Unforgiving and unmerciful. Her gaze penetrated straight through her. "Where did you learn that Forbidden Magic?" she asked.

Zelda looked down and frowned. "He… It can't be forbidden… I found it… in the library."

"Princess, that spell has been banned from ever being written down anywhere in Hyrule. Its casting is forbidden by any, including the King. No one in these lands is permitted to cast it, ever. You could have killed Jeffery."

Zelda's shoulders slumped and her chin touched down on her chest. "I… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt him. I really didn't. I just… was really, really angry."

Impa reached out and raised Zelda's chin so that she was looking into her eyes. The Princess flinched again from the strong gaze that the Sheikah had. "Princess, it's alright to feel angry. He was a disrespectful ingrate. But that doesn't mean you can go about killing people who don't show any respect."

Zelda's face drained of blood and she looked at Impa pleadingly. "I didn't… Did I kill him?" Impa sighed and shook her head. Zelda let out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding.

"No," said Impa. "He'll live, not very easily, but he'll live." Impa smirked. "I don't think he'll be so full of himself anymore." Once more, Impa turned and gazed into Zelda's eyes. "Now Princess, you must tell me, where in the library did you find this spell? How did you learn it? This kind of spell is not one that can be learned over night without some kind of help."

"I-" Zelda paused, unsure of weather she should be truthful.

"Zelda this is important," said Impa. Zelda nodded reluctantly.

"I was in the library, studying the spells I'd found. Suddenly I heard a voice. When I looked up the entire library was dark except for my table. The voice said it was a spirit who lived in the library. He offered to teach me a spell that was sure to win any duel. I swear, Impa, I didn't know. I didn't know! You've got to believe me!" Impa grabbed the almost hysterical girl a squeezed her tight. She was sobbing into her shoulder, her body wracked with emotions.

"Shh, it's going to be okay," Impa soothed. "Everything's going to be alright." Once Zelda had calmed down to the point that she wasn't sobbing constantly, Impa went on. "Oh, my precious Princess. You are going to have a rough life ahead of you now. I'm so sorry there wasn't anything I could do to help you. I should have been there and I'm really, really sorry."

"It's alright Impa," choked Zelda. "I won't use that spell ever again, I swear. And if I ever see that shadow again, I'll tell him where he can stick his spells."

"While I don't approve of such language coming from a Princess of Hyrule, that's is not exactly what I was talking about," said Impa. She smiled sadly. "Unfortunately, you're going to have to cast that spell again. Again, and again, and again. Dark magic is forbidden because it creates a pact between the magic and the caster. Cast it once, and you will be called on to use the dark energies again until you die. If you don't use it, you slowly lose your mind to it. Oh, my precious Zelda, you're cursed."

Zelda's entire body was numb of all feeling. She couldn't feel anything, not her hands, skin, legs. She couldn't smell, breathe, or taste. She couldn't hear or see. She couldn't think. Nothing was in her mind except for that one word that echoed back and forth across the void.

"Cursed!"

* * *

- - - Sylvarant, Present - - -

The word continued to echo through her mind, even as the dream faded. For several moments, she lay still while listening to the world around her, feeling the pressure gravity put on her, smelling the air. It smelled like ozone and burnt plastic.

"Welcome back to the world of the living, Princess." Zelda opened her eyes and looked up at Zelos, blinking her eyes a few times. Zelos offered her a helping hand, but she waved him off and instead pressed the heel of her palm against her forehead. "I was afraid there for a minute that you wouldn't wake up. That was one heck of a spell. What was it called? Major Rash?"

"Majora's Wrath," Zelda clarified. She sat up and continued pressing her hand against her forehead. "Oh... Goddesses, I forgot how much it hurts to use. And the dream..."

"Eh?" Zelos arched an eyebrow. "What dream?"

Zelda opened her mouth to speak, but then stopped. After a short pause, she pulled her legs up underneath her and pushed her self up. When standing, she said, "Don't we have some prisoners to save?"

Zelos watched her for several seconds before he nodded. "Sure, let's save some country bumpkins."

* * *

Holy Macaroni noodles on a hot cross bun! This little excursion turned into a full blown chapter. How did that happen? Seriously, I did not mean for this chapter to be this long. Hopefully, this answers some of your questions about Zelda's abilities. And yes, Majora's Wrath is a curse, not just on the target, but the caster as well. Gotta be careful of them Dark Magics. Now we all know why Majora's Mask was so evil, right? Well, maybe in my head we do. Anyway…

**Link**: (_Yawn_) "What happened. Did I sleep through it all? Have I saved the world yet?"

No… in fact, I kind of went on an excursion. Sorry for that. It looks like we'll be getting back to Link in the Balacruf Dungeon next chapter. You all have my apologies.

**Link**: "You mean to tell me that you didn't write anything related to the main plot?!"

Nope… sorry. Please review, and tell me, was this whole chapter worth it? Did it answer more questions than it raised?

**Link**: (_Sigh_) "Thanks for reading… this extra chapter thingy."


	23. Balacruf Dungeon Part Two

And now we can finally get back to Link!

**Link**: "Yes! Finally!"

Don't get your hopes up. This dungeon is full of small pebbles for Dark Link to drop onto your head.

**Link**: "So it was you!"

**Dark Link**: "You got a problem with that, loser?!"

Link, before you go off fighting Dark Link, again, please name the reviewers.

**Dark Link**: "Yeah, you little pansy, name the reviewers."

**Link**: "Grr…. The reviewers were _**Jenova Remnant AKA Fishie**_, _**Poet Bucky**_, _**Rini Tsukino**_, _**eliteforce**_, _**The Sage of Spirits**_, _**Canada Cowboy**_, _**Amekoryuu**_, _**mandrakefunnyjuice**_, _**freakyanimegal456**_ (x2), and _**pokemon-35055**_."

Thank you very much for reviewing. Link, would you also do the-

**Link** & **Dark Link**: "Ahhh!" (_The two boys start fighting bare fisted style_).

…disclaimer… okay, perhaps not. Ubella, you get a reprieve until the next Hyrule involved chapter.

**Ubella**: "Hmph!"

How about… Lloyd, you say it.

**Lloyd**: "Give me your disclaimer and I'll give you (_Whack_) Owww! (_Whack_) Stop throwing bricks at me! (_Whack_)"

**Kvar**: "Why should I? It's very entertaining. Hahahahaha!" (_Whack Whack_)

**Lloyd**: "I'm gonna (_Whack_) kill you (_Whack_) Kvar! (_Whack_)"

Blah, blah, blah. Fine, I'll say it. I do not own Tales of Symphonia or The Legend of Zelda. On with the story. Oh, and I'm going to be experimenting with some characterization and stuff, so let me know if it's working.

* * *

- - - Sylvarant - - -

Link stood stock still, staring intently at the large _thing_ Navi was flying circles around. The conversation from moments ago echoed through his mind…

* * *

_Navi buzzed, razzed, and spazzed as she ranted about something. Link was forced to admit she was impersonating an annoying horse fly very well. Link swatted at her before he continued to shake the dust and rocks from his ratty tunic, hair, etc. Every few seconds he would flinch as another pebbled was knocked loose from the ceiling far overhead and landed miraculously on his head._

_The pebbles didn't faze him anymore. What held his attention now were the images that ventured unbidden to the front of his mind. For a moment, while buried under all the rocks and dirt, he was back in the torture chamber again, watching Lloyd scream. He tried to forget, and actually did for a time, but the near death experience ripped a hole in that mental barrier._

"_Link! Stop ignoring me!"_

_Link jumped, not expecting something so small to be able to scream so loudly. He tried pushing the violent images from his mind by instead focusing on how her voice echoing along the walls of the room. After it died out, he shook his head and went back to dusting himself off. That explosion covered him in more dirt than a muddy rodeo clown. He had rocks in place he didn't think rocks could get. Not to mention that he was seeing red for few minutes until the cut above his right eye stopped bleeding._

_Finally fed up with the unresponsive boy, the fairy's blue glow turned slightly darker and she rammed him in the back of the head. Miniscule amounts of magic energy flew past his ears and a burning sensation grew at the epicenter of her impact._

"_Ouch!" Link ducked as Navi zoomed around the room, swiping at his head. The only thing Link could compare it to was that one time he was attacked by a whole hive of bees. "Stop!" he cried. "Alright! I'll listen! I'll listen!"_

_Navi slowed to a halt, her small chest was heaving from the strenuous effort of bashing the Hylian in the head. Once she was sure Link was going to keep his word and pay attention, she turned and flew across the room to where the Rock Golem's fist was stuck in the wall. The blow to the rock face had brought down huge piles of rocks, dirt, and other debris in addition to the bomb blast. It had also revealed a hole that was coincidentally just large enough for Link to squeeze through._

"_When did that hole appear?" Link asked dumbly._

_Navi rolled her eyes. "When do you think, hollow head? Now come on, there's something in here that you need to get."_

"_What thing?"_

_Navi flew into and through the hole in the wall. "A Thing!" shouted the fairy from the other side._

* * *

And now that he was staring at said _thing_, he wasn't sure what to make of it. He glanced back and forth between Navi and the large obsidian obelisk. It was twice as tall as he was and etched into each of the four sides were large glowing symbols. The red glow that they each had combined to cast a red haze about the small room.

"What are you waiting for?" asked Navi. She continued to fly circles around obelisk. Link looked at her questioningly. "The mask!" she shouted, "Raise up the mask!"

Link watched her flying around the obelisk for a few more moments. A deflated sigh escaped him as he brought out the Bomb Mask and reluctantly lifted it up toward the obelisk. For several moments nothing happened.

The mask suddenly became burning hot in Link's fingers. He yelped and immediately let go of it. The mask stayed stationary in the air for all of two seconds before it floated away, as if pulled forward by a magnet. When it was a short distance away from the obelisk, the red haze shifted into a lighter blue.

The symbols, now shining brightly in blue, started emitting a sort of heat like energy. The visible waves roiled and warped the air as they rose up to Navi. She in turn, somehow, absorbed the energy, making her glow brighter.

Starting at the bottom, the symbols on the obelisk fell dark, drained of their light and nameless power. Navi's orbits became faster as each row of symbols lost their light. When the final symbol at the very top went out, she swung around the obelisk for a final time and slammed into the mask.

Link brought his arm up and shielded his eyes from the intense light being emitted by the fairy. The spectacular show didn't last long. Link lowered his arm and found the mask floating in front of him. Dying flames of blue licked its edges.

When the last ember of power died, the mask dropped from the air and clattered to the ground in front of Link. The red haze was gone, the room now almost pitch black. The only light came from Navi floating above Link's head and from the tunnel where the tube lights were still functioning.

"You ready?" she asked as if nothing strange had just happened. No exploding light, no floating mask, nothing. Link gave her an exasperated look and then bent over to inspect the mask. It was still shaped the same. The only difference now was the small blue arrows on the cheeks pointing upwards, toward the bridge of the nose.

"Navi, what was that bright light? And what happened to the mask? What do these arrows mean?"

Navi flew down and landed on top of the mask. She got onto her hands and knees and started inspecting the changes, feeling the new contours of the arrows with the palms of her tiny hands. The she stood up, dusted her hands, and leaped into the air.

"That," she said, "is a new ability. Now you can jump really high into the air as well as exploding while wearing the mask."

"Really?" Link picked up the mask and looked it over. Aside from the arrows it didn't look any different. It didn't feel any different. But, he figured, she was in the same box as this mask so if she said he could jump really high, then that meant that he could jump really high.

"Of course," said the fairy matter-of-factly. She flew behind the boy and out of the darkened side room. "Come on, you can use that to cross the chasm now."

Once through the small opening, which seemed to have shrunk somehow, Link stood once more on the edge of the deep crevice. He looked down at the mask in his left hand, and then back across the gap to the other side. Another set of stairs was easily visible from where he stood. And since the way back up was now blocked by a rather large boulder, that far stairwell seemed to be his only way out.

Link raised the mask to his head and hopped. To his disappointment, he did not float any higher from the ground than he normally would have. Swallowing loudly, he looked up and asked, "Navi? Are you sure this is going to work?"

"Yes," she said, bobbing up and down in the air. "Now hurry up, we're wasting time."

Link swallowed again, attempting unsuccessfully to get the pasty taste out of his mouth. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As he let it out, he heard something from behind him and looked over his shoulder just in time to see the big boulder in front of the stairs start to move. He could hear shouts and grunts from behind the boulder.

"This area is more unstable than first indicated." The voice sounded very familiar to Link, but he just couldn't place it. "Hurry up and move that boulder!" shouted the man.

"Yes Lord Kvar," responded the grunts. Link's eyes went wide. The mask dropped from his hand and he began to shake all over the place. The images he tried to forget surged forward once again. He watched Lloyd scream and cry out as Kvar's men beat him senseless, forced his head under water, shouted at him until he was afraid of any sounds. He watched him forced to take one injection of some kind after another and then set in front of a screen where moving pictures of one kind or another were streamed past his forced open eyes.

When Link started shaking as the boulder started scraping across the ground, Navi flew down into Link's face. "Link! Hey!" she shouted. "Link, wake up!" Link didn't respond at all. He simply stood there, shivering and trembling.

Navi decided to attempt a different strategy. She flew over to his ear and took a deep, deep breath. "HEY! LISTEN!" she shouted. The piercing noise split through Link's psyche like a red hot ice chisel through a lump of butter.

Link screamed and fell backwards. He roughly rubbed his ear, which was bleeding, and tried to calm his racing heart down a notch.

Navi crossed her arms and nodded to herself. She flew up to Link's face, ignored his scowl, and said calmly, "If you would please pick the mask up, we can get out of here, alright?" She flew across the crevice and hovered on the other side. "Come on," she beckoned, "jump it already!"

Free of his panic induced stupor, Link quickly scooped up the mask. He ran away from the edge of the crevice and turned around. Still shaking like a gale blasted leaf, Link held the mask up to his face. He said a quick prayer and then gunned it.

"Gaah!" he cried as he launched himself over the gap. Just as Link left the ground the mask glowed slightly. Link sailed through the air impossibly. He was moving too slow to make it across the gap, according to the laws of physics. Accordingly, Link's forward momentum should have died out while he was half way across the bottomless pit. Instead, Link sailed clear over the gap and landed a good few feet on the other side.

"There. See! You made it." Navi flew around Link's head a few times, as if to say 'I told you so'. "Now let's go down those stairs."

Link looked over his shoulder. His eyes fixed on the bottomless pit he'd just crossed. He couldn't stop them from rising to stare at the boulder slowly inching its way across the floor.

Link shuddered again. He grabbed the mask tighter and scrambled toward the exit. He stopped just inside the entryway and peeked back into the room. Moments later several Desians shoved their way past the boulder and onto rubble covered plateau. Behind them appeared the man himself.

Link wanted to turn and run down the stairs. He wanted to tear his eyes away. He wanted rip his head open and tear the memories of Lloyd out. He wanted to die. But he could do nothing but stand and watch with his feet glued fast to the spot.

"Hnn," sneered Kvar. "The damage isn't as bad as I thought. The bridge is gone and the lights we set up further on are out. However…" Kvar walked up to the edge of the crevice and peered into the darkness on the other side. For a moment his eyes snapped to where Link was hiding.

Link stopped breathing the moment his eyes met with the monster's. His mind went blank. Fear tore through his gut like a magic bullet. Then the moment was gone, Kvar looked away.

"You," he said, pointing at one of the Desian soldiers, "set up the secondary bridge."

"Yes sir," replied the soldier, saluting.

"Link," whispered Navi. Link managed to turn his head, the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach making him nauseous. "Let's get out of here," she continued, "we have to keep moving."

Link breathed deeply and started down the steps, taking each one slowly. Every step he took seemed like his last. Navi landed on his hat and the two of them continued down into the darkness.

…

Almost an hour later, Link emerged from the descending tunnel. He stopped for a moment to rest his sore legs. Navi gave off a little snore from on top of Link's hat.

The boy looked back the way he'd come, almost expecting Kvar to suddenly appear and shoot him between the eyes. But he'd not seen one iota of a hint that Kvar had followed him. As comforting as that was, the lack of a Desian presence made the Hylian boy just as nervous.

The room he was in now was small and short. The ceiling couldn't possibly be more than a head higher than he was. The floor was clear of debris and there were small torches lit here and there along the walls. On the left side of the room light reflected off of the disturbingly calm surface of a small pool. Opposite Link's entry position was a new flight of stairs, this one going up.

Seeing no other way out of the room, Link headed toward the other stairs. He froze half way across the room, the hairs standing up on the back of his neck. Something disturbed the water, making it slosh about. But when he turned his head to look, nothing was there except the agitated surface.

Link cautiously unsheathed his sword and equipped his shield. Slowly, keeping his eyes on the pool, Link moved forward again. Just as he put his foot onto the ground, the water splashed again. Several whooshing sounds followed.

Link raised his shield in time to repel the octorok's stone projectiles. The rocks shattered to small gooey bits on the boy's shield. Link peeked over the edge. The purple skinned monster's glowing yellow eyes narrowed. It reared back and spit a few more rocks at Link.

Link jumped to the side and let the rocks fly past. Navi fell off of Link's hat and landed on top of a piece of rock with octorok spit on it. The fairy sputtered awake in time to see Link running up the stairs and out of the room. The last few rocks launched by the octorok flew past the retreating boy and smash landed on the ground.

"Link," Navi said groggily. The octorok twitched and turned to face Navi. It narrowed its eyes angrily and spit a few more rocks at the fairy.

Navi jumped into the air and spun around, flinging off the spit that got all over her when she fell from Link's hat. She stopped just in time to see a rock bigger than she was sail right past her face. Wide eyed, she turned and finally noticed the octorok was aiming for her.

It was having trouble hitting Navi, since she was so small. Its slimy rocks were hitting everything but her actually. The fairy took the opportunity and flew after Link. She managed to get out of the room in one piece, but the octorok somehow managed to cover her again with slimy spit.

Navi caught up to Link at the entrance to the next room with his back against the wall and his knees pulled up against his chest. The fairy took a moment to shake the spit off for the second time. Free of the slimy substance, she landed softly on his right knee cap.

"Do you realize how disgusting that was?" she asked indignantly. Link mumbled something unintelligible. Navi stomped her foot, causing Link's knee to jerk slightly. "What was that? I couldn't hear you?"

Link's eyes focused on Navi. "I said I… was sorry. I… I didn't realize that you'd fallen off my hat."

Navi crossed her arms and huffed. "Well then, I suppose I can forgive you." Link nodded. He closed his eyes and sighed deeply. Navi cocked her head to the side and looked the boy's face over thoughtfully.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

Link blinked a few times. "Yeah," he said. "I was just… wondering if I'd ever see my family again. I was wondering if they were okay. That's all."

"Alright," said the fairy. She jumped off Link's knee and ascended into the air. "Just so you know, there's three more mask power ups. The next one is just ahead."

"What's the next one do?" Link stood up and started walking into the next room. "And are your memories coming back?"

Navi bobbed back and forth. "I'm not sure," she said. "I don't remember _remembering_ this stuff. I just sort of _knew_ it. And I also feel a sort of pull. And the closer I get the stronger the pull is."

Link yawned as he walked through the room. He stopped for a few seconds and both he and Navi stared up at a large suit of armor with an axe just as large. "Do you think that whoever wore this was actually able to move and fight?" asked Link.

"I'd say that if the armor exists, then something must have fought in it. Come on, let's just get this over with." Navi flew off toward the arched exit opposite the stairs. Just as she flew past the arch, the ground began to shake. Link stopped as a feeling of dread filled him from head to toe. He looked behind him and sure enough, there was a large stone door sliding down over the entrance he'd just walked through. When he looked back forward, he found another slab of stone sliding over the arched exit.

"Come on Link!" shouted Navi from the other side. She bobbed wildly, beckoning the boy to run. Then she gasped. "Look out!"

Before Link could think of running out the other exit, a giant metal encased hand grabbed him by the neck and threw him across the room. Link sailed into the wall and slid to the ground. His vision was blurred by the impact with the wall, but he could easily see the large shadow cast by the living armor moving toward him. Each step that it took was heavy with terrible intent.

Link scrambled to his feet and unsheathed his sword and shield. The Iron Knuckle swung its massive ax and sent the boy flying into the wall again, his shield splinters. Before Link could recover again, the monster reached down and grabbed Link by the neck and lifted him into the air. It shook him so violently that Link lost his grip on his sword. It then threw him across the room again.

The Iron Knuckle hefted its ax and started across the room. Link lay stunned, propped up against the wall. He couldn't get his bearings straight. Every time he tried to focus his eyes, the world would spin faster. Even when his eyes were closed, he couldn't help but feel the world spinning.

When the monster stopped walking, Link opened his eyes again, nausea filling his stomach. The metal monster raised its ax above its head. It stared out of its metal helmet with glowing red eyes.

The world began spinning faster the longer he stared back at the Knuckle so Link closed his eyes and waited for the monster to finish him off. But the only cry that filled the room was that of the Iron Knuckle. It cried out in pain as more and more of its armor fell off. The whoosh of a sword cutting through the air and strips of cloth filled the room.

Eventually the last piece of armor fell off of the Knuckle. The less burdened creature grabbed its ax and took the opportunity to jump out of the way of the sword stab that would have finished it off. However, the wielder of said ebon blade shouted, "Great Spin" and started spinning. The attack sliced through the mid-section of the Knuckle with ease.

Link tried to stay awake. He tried to open his eyes and focus on what was in front of him. But every time he slipped farther into unconsciousness. Before he was completely gone, his savior grabbed him by the shirt and lifted him into the air.

"You are pathetic," said Link's dark doppelganger. "You've even lost the will to fight, to save others. What kind of a Hero are you?"

And then he was gone. Link was out cold before he'd even slumped all the way to the ground.

* * *

"_Link, you're such a loser!"_

"_Haha, Link's a loser!_

"_Haha!"_

"_Haha!"_

"_Link's a loser! Link's a loser!"_

_The seven or so children in a circle started laughing obnoxiously. The tallest one, a young boy that appeared to be at least two years older than the rest and had distinctive reddish brown hair, bent over just a bit and then straightened up. In his hand was a young Hylian boy with a tear streaked face._

"_Look at the little crybaby!" shouted the older boy. "He wants to be the hero but all he does is cry." The younger boy was thrown to the ground and the others all crowded around him again. "I guess this means that evil wins again, eh Link?"_

"_That's not fair," sniffed Link. He rubbed his sniffles on the back of his long, dirty sleeve. "You keep playing dirty tricks and calling me names."_

"_Shut up!" shouted a young girl. "You were so stupid that you hit yourself with the sword. The hero would never hit himself. And whenever Lanieu ever came at you, you'd just stand there and cry. You big baby!"_

"_Yeah," added another boy, "and because you're so weak we all got eaten by the Big Pig! It's all your fault Link!"_

"_Hey, Lanieu, let's go throw him into the fountain!" suggested one boy._

_The taller boy sneered. "Yeah, a fitting punishment for such a loser, but first I want to give Wimpy Linky here another chance. Well, come on loser, try and beat me! That is, if you can…"_

_Link sniffed loudly and tried to get to his feet. Before Link had even gotten onto a knee, Lanieu kicked him in the shoulder, sending him onto his back._

"_What's the matter, Loser? Can't get up? Here, let me help you!" Lanieu reached down and roughly picked Link up. He set him on his feet and backed away. "Come on, Wimpy. Come get me!"_

_Link glared past his tears and rushed forward. Lanieu stepped to the side and stuck his leg out. Link tripped on the older boy's leg and fell onto the pavement. All the children erupted in laughter. Link started crying again._

"_Aww, look! He's crying again!"_

_Lanieu walked up to the young Link and kicked him in the side. Link gasped loudly. "Hey, you hurt or something?" Lanieu kicked Link again, harder. "Come on! Speak up!"_

"_Ow," Link rasped. Tears streamed down his dirty face as he tried to breath. He kept taking short gulps of air like a fish out of water._

"_Hey!" shouted one of the kids. "He looks just like a fish. Let's go put him back into the water!"_

"_Yeah!" almost all the kids shouted. Each of them grabbed Link somewhere and dragged him down the short path to the center square. In the middle was a grand fountain, built during the reign of the second Queen Zelda of Hyrule. The symbol of Hyrule's prosperity was mounted just above the waters, the Holy Triforce._

_The kids dragged Link up to the fountain. Lanieu jumped up onto the side wall and then the others lifted Link up to him. Lanieu then tossed Link down into the water._

_Though it wasn't very deep, one foot at most, Link began to flail about. He kept trying to get a hand onto the side wall, but every time Lanieu would stomp on his hand and then reach down with his longer arms and push Link's head beneath the water's surface. The whole time he was laughing madly._

_This went on until eventually two guards, who were watching for a good while, walked up. They whacked Lanieu upside the head and sent him and the crowd of kids off without word. Then they pulled Link out of the fountain and set him down on the dry ground._

"_Kid, don't you know that swimming in the fountain is against the law?" asked one guard. Link nodded. He knew, he'd been thrown in before._

"_If you knew then why'd you let them throw you in?!" demanded the second guard._

_Link stared up at the guards, shivering. "We were playing pretend, and I was the Hero. Lanieu was the Big Pig and-"_

"_Kid, what makes you think you can be a hero if you can't even fight off a bunch of kids? You're too weak to be the Hero," said the first guard. "Go on, get out of here. Run home to your mommy!"_

_Link ran, tears once more streaming down his cheeks. The laughter of the guards echoed in his ears all the way home._

* * *

Wow, that was unexpected. Bet you guys didn't know Link was teased (and assaulted) as a youngster.

**Link**: "…"

**Dark Link**: "I think I'm going to be sick…"

Aww, just because you did something good, just one thing?

**Dark Link**: "…" (_Runs to the bathroom and hoarks up lunch_).

He sure can't take it, being evil and all, but it's to be expected. He is the opposite of you in all ways Link. If you lose the will to fight for justice and others, then he gains it. So in the end, I can't really blame him. He'll explain it to you in more detail later on.

**Link**: "Great, that just means Dark Link is better at this than I am. Why can't he be the hero?!"

Because he's not better than you, he's just what you could be. You could look at it this way too: He's the least of what you should be capable of. Thusly, he's not better than you, just a shadowy reflection.

**Ubella**: "So when do I show up?"

I believe you'll be back in a chapter or two. Speaking of which, did my efforts at making Link a bit more of a deeper character pan out? What are your opinions? I'll be delving farther into Link's psyche as this temple goes on. Hopefully by the end though, our boy Link will have found a reason to put aside his childhood fears and fight (hopefully…). Please review!

**Ubella**: "If you read this thing, thanks… I guess. Why am I thanking these people again?"

**Link**: "It's because they're keeping you alive, remember?"

**Ubella**: "Hmm… nope. Goodbye."


	24. The Super Exsphere

_Edit (May 30__th__, 2008): __**I would like to have it known that I had no intention of taking a break before I took one. A lot of things had to be done though, such as Finals and spring cleaning. I went through seventeen years of stuff, sorted it, and stored it away. I also rearranged the furniture. And, if that weren't enough, I decided that I wanted to do more background work for this story, so that took a day and a half to do. And here we are, four weeks later. Needless to say, time sure does fly… Oh, and I updated the poll in my profile, "Who's your fav **__**Legend!**__** character?" Do check it out when you have the chance.**_

_**I'll post the results in the next chapter. Whoever gets the most votes gets to do the disclaimer!**_

* * *

And here we are, with the next chapter. Link's off at therapy right now. He had some issues to deal with and Dark Link wouldn't leave him alone.

**Dark Link**: "I hate you, Valian. I hate you with a passion as great as the Wall of China!"

And as you can see, Dark Link has changed targets.

**Dark Link**: "Hello sweet stuff…" (_Smack_) "So violent…"

**Ubella**: "Hmph" (_Stomps on Dark Link's foot_) "Stupid Male!"

**Dark Link**: "I could get used to this."

Yeah… moving on. _**Canada Cowboy**_, _**Poet Bucky**_, _**Jenova Remnant AKA Fishie**_, _**freakyanimegal456**_, _**eliteforce**_, _**Amekoryuu**_, _**Toyax**_ (x2), _**mandrakefunnyjuice**_, _**Rini Tsukino**_, and _**pokemon-35055**_ are the reviewers this time. A great many thanks to you. I didn't realize it until I saw all the reviews for last chapter. Apparently, Link's past is very much the plot twist. Everyone reacted to it in their own ways. I was really surprised by how vocal you guys were about it. I suppose it was to be expected from all the trauma I put Link through. Hmm… Kratos, you do the disclaimer.

**Kratos**: "Ahem." (_Fangirls scream_ _with abandon_) "I.K.A. Valian does not own Tales of Symphonia or Legend of Zelda." (_Slips quietly and quickly from the room_)

**Fangirls & Stalkers**: "Nooo!" (_Chases after Kratos_)

* * *

- - -** Hyrule, Dark World** - - -

Great pillars of flame, taller than any tree, spewed their wrath into the skies that glowed red with angry incandescence. Enormous creatures with flimsy, Keese-like wings swarmed wildly, chaotically around an enormous golden pyramid. Sickly green goo, more swamp pulp than grass, surrounded the golden pyramid. The stench given off by the warped plant life stretched across the whole of the Dark Kingdom of Ganon.

The Dark King stood atop the pyramid, grinning. In his right hand was his trusted weapon, a huge white fork which was more than it appeared. It was the mystical Spear of the Goddesses. Though its powers were stripped by the corrupted lands of the Dark World, the bone white shaft and prongs were still able to act as a magical tuning fork for the giant pig man, amplifying his already tremendous power ten fold. That he held the true power of the Triforce of Power made him nigh invincible.

* * *

- - - **Hyrule, Light World** - - -

These aspects of the true King of Evil were the only thing that Baron Baker was able to see through his seeing glass. The swirling smoke in the small glass ball were not enough to reveal any more of the vile pig's face than his tusks, mouth, nose, and glowing yellow eyes. Had the great evil known that his beautiful mane of red hair was not in the image, he would have rectified the problem himself. Alas, Baron Barker did not know the mind of his evil master, only the fear he felt for him.

"Master," whimpered Barker, "what is your command?"

The enormous black skinned pig squinted at the fat man. "I want you to spur more unrest in the people. Soon, plans that I, in my magnificence, have prepared will open a doorway from this land through Twilight to Hyrule. You will sew chaos in preparation for my arrival. You know the price of failure."

Barker swallowed loudly and nodded. Yes, he knew. The last servant, the one who he was apprenticed to, was dragged into the darkness never to be seen alive again. The only remains were severely gnawed on bones. "Yes," said the Baron, shuddering slightly. Parts of the man's body jiggled that would make a Redead squirm. "I know the price. Master?"

Ganon arced a large piggy eyebrow. "Mmm?"

"What plans have you for the angelic armies? Even now, they conquer the lands of this world and-"

"Mwahahahaaaa," laughed Ganon. The sound was so deep and so malicious that the Baron's knees audibly knocked against one another. A wet stain appeared on his pants. "All part of my plan, slave! Mwaaahahahahahaaa!"

* * *

- - - **Hyrule, Desert Colossus** - - -

It was dark in the cavernous inner sanctum chamber, save for the two witches floating about the room on their brooms and the beam of light shining down on the center of the altar which was large enough to hold a small army. In the middle of the spot light was an enormous mirror. Colette hung unconscious from a pair of chains around her wrists over the concave reflective surface of the mirror.

"Sister." The red haired old hag looked over her shoulder at her blue haired twin. "Preparations are almost complete. Our King's return is near."

"Yes," agreed Koume solemly. She bowed her head in thought. "Do you think we should clean this place up, for our son's arrival? It's gotten so dirty over the centuries."

"Yes, sister," said Kotake happily. "Let us summon an army of Bombchus to blow away the garbage."

"No," said Koume slowly, "Let us summon a few Moblins, they at least have the brains to clean up."

"No!" shouted Kotake. "We should summon Bombchus!"

"Moblins!"

"Bombchus!"

"Mob-" Koume stopped. "Why don't we summon both?"

Kotake stared at Koume and then nodded, her smile revealing her agreement and her sickly yellow and half rotten teeth. "Yes, sister, we shall summon both. Ke ke ke ke ke ke…."

Koume raised her hand and a fireball formed in her palm. Kotake did the same, only an ice orb appeared. They both dropped them to the ground around the enormous alter at the same time. The ice orb shattered into many small shards, each one reforming into a Bombchu that immediately began scurrying about. The fire ball exploded and each ember the floated to the ground reformed into a Moblin with a broom in its hand.

"Go," ordered Kotake. "Clean up this place."

"And it better be spotless by the time Lord Ganon arrives!" shouted Koume at the creatures as they scrambled out the door.

"Mmhmm…" The two witches looked at each other and then down at the chain bound Colette on top of the mirror. For a moment she shook her head back and forth and then her eyes fluttered open. She turned her head to the left, and then to the right. Her long blond hair strained from its trapped position behind her back. Finally, Colette looked up.

"What the… Where am I?! Who are you?! What's going on here?!" The chains jingled as the young girl tried to pull her hands free. The witches looked back at each other and cackled again.

"All in good time, dearie," said Koume.

"Sister, let us must finish the preparations," said Kotake over her shoulder as she flew away.

"Yes, let us," agreed Koume. Both witches flew off on their brooms, cackling obnoxiously every few minutes. Colette attempted to free herself until her arms were tired from pulling on the chains.

"So much for Angelic strength," she grunted. "How did I end up in this mess? First Cruxis and the Desians, then Hyrule, now these two old hags. What's next? Is a giant hand going to reach out of nowhere to grab me?" Colette stopped mumbling disdainfully to herself for a few moments and stared up at the light source high above her. "I wonder what Lloyd and the others are doing. I hope they're okay…"

* * *

- - - **Sylvarant, Asgard** - - -

There were long isles of them. Endless isles of them. Isles of freshly produced Exspheres.

"Wow…"

"I've never seen so many Exspheres before," said Genis. He picked one up and let it roll around in the palm of his hand. "They're so light compared to yours Lloyd."

"Wow…"

"Lloyd, please speak normally," admonished Raine. She picked her emerald jewel up and examined it. "These are remarkable specimens," she remarked.

"Wow…" There was a whoosh and then a dull thump. "Ouch," cried Lloyd. He rubbed his head and squinted angrily up at Kratos. "You don't have to hit me!"

"Apparently I did," replied the older man. Lloyd had a come back all planned this time. Normally Kratos left him at a loss for words, but this time… Lloyd couldn't do it. The pained look in Kratos' eyes as he scanned the room full of shelves covered with Exspheres. He had the look of a man whose past haunted him.

"Ar… are you alright Kratos?" Lloyd asked slowly, unsure of how to approach this more emotional, and much scarier, Kratos. But the moment Lloyd asked, the haunted look disappeared, covered over by the hard boiled merc stare.

"I'm fine," he said smoothly. "I believe that we only have a few more rooms left to check in this section of the base. We should move on." Without another word, Kratos turned and left the storage room soundlessly.

Lloyd watched him go with a frown upon his face. Kratos never got emotional. Whatever it was that shook him up, it had to do with those Exspheres. What could it have been?

"Fascinating," exclaimed Raine excitedly. "These Exspheres are nothing like normal ones."

"What do you mean, Raine?" asked Sheena. "They look like normal Exspheres to me."

"They appear like normal Exsphere gems," said Raine, "but if you look closely, their color doesn't come from the gem itself, but a small glow within. The only other time I've even heard of Exspheres glowing was when the gem was granting the wearer abilities far beyond what they would be capable of normally. And not only that, but as Genis stated earlier, these are much lighter than regular Exspheres. As for their capabilities compared to normal Exspheres, further testing is required."

"So, these are like Super Exspheres?" asked Lloyd.

"Perhaps…" said Raine. "But there's no way to know if they're in fact better or worse than normal ones. For all we know, these could be defective Exspheres."

"Well then why don't you and Genis use these Key Crests to try them out," said Lloyd. He pulled two flat brown disks from his pocket and handed them to Raine. She eyed them curiously, appreciating the angelic runes carved into them, but suspicious nonetheless.

"Lloyd, where did you get these?" asked Genis, stealing his sisters' question from her lips. Raine opened her mouth to speak, but then shut it and leveled her 'tell me now or else' stare at Lloyd. The boy grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head.

"I… Uhh… heh, well those Desians won't be needing them anymore."

"Lloyd!" groaned Genis. "How do we even know these will work anymore?"

"Oh, don't worry about that Genis," Lloyd reassured. "I checked the charm myself. It all looks perfectly fine. Key Crests are a Dwarven Technology after all." Raine slowly nodded and looked back down at the Key Crest next to the softly glowing green Exsphere in the palm of her hand.

"I suppose this will be alright," she remarked softly, almost whispering. "Okay then. I alone will test this new type of Exsphere."

"Aw, Sis!" whined Genis.

"No, Genis" Raine said sternly, "if this turns out to be unsafe, I don't want you being the one who gets hurt."

Everyone filed out of the room and into the hallway where Raine placed the Key Crest onto the back of her hand and then placed the glowing Exsphere through conveniently placed hole in the Crest and onto her skin. For a moment, nothing happened. Everyone, including Kratos was watching her carefully. Then Raine shivered as the Exsphere was absorbed into her skin halfway, pulling the Key Crest tight against her skin.

"Oh my," she murmured, "it tingles. And I'm getting light headed."

"That's normal," said Kratos. "It will pass after a few hours. Now that you are finished, we should move on, I believe I found what we are looking for." Kratos turned and started walking.

"The control room?" asked Lloyd, walking quickly to catch up to the older man.

"Not exactly," he said. He turned and walked down a short hallway toward a large red door with the word 'Reactor' written in large yellow lettering on the upper half of it.

"Reactor…" said Lloyd. He stopped in front of the door and looked it up and down. "What's a reactor?"

"A reactor is some form of device that produces power for a town or other facility," recited Genis. "Many currently known reactors are Mana based and used solely by Desians in Human Ranches."

Lloyd frowned in thought. "So that means if we shut down the reactor, then we'll turn off the machines down here and save the people."

"It would also make escape impossible since all doors down here are powered by computers," added Sheena. "We can't just shut down all the power, just the power that's being used to hurt people."

"Right," said Lloyd. "They'll probably have this place guarded, so let's get ready."

Kratos eyed the others guardedly and then punched the electronics pad next to the door. A loud hissing filled the air as pneumatic lifts opened the large metal door to reveal…

"Hello, my voluptuous Hunny!"

"Zelos?!" shouted Lloyd.

"Zelos!" Sheena threw in.

"Zelos," Kratos said flatly. He'd known all along.

"What's he doing here?" asked Genis incredulously.

"I assume that he and Zelda appeared near here when Yuan transported us," said Raine.

"That would be correct, Miss Sage." Zelos stood back and allowed the group to see into the chamber. The dead body of Alphons was still lying on the floor and Zelda was staring up at the computer screens, concentrating on the symbols flashing by. "We appeared on that big rock on a hill and were quickly asked by some dude named Harley to save the towns people that the big bad Desians had kidnapped. He dressed up as one of them and then snuck us in. After a long fight and a lot of battles, I, and Miss Zelda, defeated the big baddy over there," Zelos pointed to the dead man on the floor, "and are now attempting to figure out how to set those poor little peoples free. Then we can all be happy, we can have tea, all that fun stuff. And maybe, if my most important Hunny is still awake, we can…"

SMACK

Zelos raised a hand to his cheek and touched the red hand print there tenderly. Sheena, now irate, walked by the tall redhead and started looking about the room.

"You kind of asked for that," said Lloyd.

"He deserved it a long time ago," Genis muttered.

"She loves me," said Zelos with a sigh. "Though not everyone is as pretty as me. I'm so pretty it hurts."

"Your mouth hurts," Kratos said quietly, "my ears." Zelos quickly shut up.

"This technology is amazing!" Raine said loudly. She was standing next to Zelda at the large keyboard in front of the holographically projected monitors. "Is that the Proto-Triforce that we found in the cavern underneath the old Triet?" Raine bent sideways and stared up at the force field surrounded piece of the Proto-Triforce. "It is! Amazing, they've constructed an array to harness the powers of the artifact as if it were composed of Mana." Raine typed a few keys and a new diagram appeared on one of the screens. "Incredible, they've already mapped the Mana potential of the artifact. It's like nothing I've ever seen…"

"Professor, what about the people trapped down here," asked Lloyd, "the ones that we came to save?"

Raine typed a few different buttons, but nothing happened. "I'm sorry," she said, "I need more time to figure out how to work this new console correctly. It's far more complicated than the regular ones."

Zelda let Raine take full control of the console and walked slowly into the room. Something was wrong. "Where's Link?"

"We thought he would be down here," said Genis. "But that Kvar guy must have taken him someplace else."

"But where?"

"Maybe he took him to the Wind Seal," suggested Lloyd.

"How did you come up with that," Genis asked, crossing his arms.

"All the other dungeons seem to be in and around Seals," Lloyd explained, "We know there's one underneath the Fire Seal and then there's the one in the Water Seal, which we don't know where that is. So, why wouldn't one be at the Wind Seal? And the Light Seal. And one should be at the Tower of Salvation too!"

"Wow, Lloyd," said Genis, "I never thought of that… and that's saying something."

"Wait a minute, Bud," interrupted Zelos. "You're telling me that those pieces of rock-

"Artifact!" shouted Raine.

"-that those artifact rocks are hidden beneath each of the elemental Seals?"

Lloyd shrugged. "It's something that's been bothering me a lot actually." Lloyd crossed his arms and looked about the room at everyone, watching their reactions. "Ever since Zelda read that riddle beneath the Martel Temple, it just seemed kind of odd that the riddle would point in the same direction as the Seal of Fire. And then the riddle in the Fire Seal pointed toward the Water Seal. So it kind of makes sense that there'd be one at the Wind Seal too."

"You know, I've been wondering about that too," said Zelda. "Actually, I was thinking that these pieces of the Proto-Triforce seem to be near or around the strongest points of each element in this world. It would make our journey a lot easier if we could just skip the searching and go straight to each… err… what you called elemental seals."

"Oh my…" Raine said quietly. All eyes turned to find her form rigid. "This is not good."

"What's wrong, sis?" asked Genis.

Raine typed a few commands into the console and a large holographic image of the Proto-Triforce appeared above their heads. Each black triangle reflected the lights in the room off of their glossy surface as if the real thing were actually floating there. Then several words and diagrams appeared next to the image, spewing forth details about research and other such things. Most prominently featured were eleven big symbols with a line drawn from one word to a corresponding piece of the Proto-Triforce.

"That's what's wrong," said Raine quietly. "We were wrong to assume that we were the first ones to discover the Proto-Triforce. Apparently several other pieces were found already. It was no mistake that Kvar was at the Fire Seal. He was there purposely to get the piece that we found. According to this, they know where all but one of the pieces are. They've marked each piece that they've found with a green circle." Raine pointed to the green circles with lines drawn to a large black triangle and one drawn to a piece of crescent moon. "I'm assuming that the crescent that they claim to have is the one in this room here."

Raine pointed at the red X symbol and said, "That one indicates that they know where the piece is, but they haven't retrieved it yet. And that last symbol," Raine motioned toward the blue square with a line drawn to another of the large black triangles, "that means they have no idea where it is."

"Might I ask where the other pieces are," Kratos inquired. Raine typed a few more keys and suddenly several words appeared next to each of the colored symbols.

"Fire Seal, Water Seal, Wind Seal, Light Seal, Earth Seal, Shadow Seal, Electric Seal, Ice Seal, Martel Temple, Unknown, and Classified," Genis read aloud. "Wow, Lloyd, you were right!"

"Way to go, Lloyd!" Zelos burst, clapping the younger boy on the shoulder hard.

"It's good an all knowing where the pieces of this Proto-Triforce thing are, but what of it," said Sheena. "Why do you care about this thing anyway?"

"Sheena, I know you have questions," Zelda said, drawing attention to her. "I know you all do. But for right now, we really need to find Link. I have a terrible feeling that he's in more danger than he realizes."

"And what about the Villagers," Lloyd said. "We have to save them too." He clutched his head and groaned. "There's too much to do! What do we do first?!"

"Lloyd," said Kratos evenly, "calm down. You can't do anyone any good if you don't have a clear head."

"Yeah, alright," said Lloyd quietly. He looked back and forth around the room and an idea popped into his head. "Why don't we split up? There are seven of us here. Four of us can head to the Wind Seal and three can stay here to free the villagers. We've already gotten rid of most of the Desians, so there really shouldn't be much more to do here."

"But who goes and who stays?" asked Zelda.

"I vote to go where ever my hunny goes!" Zelos said quickly.

"It was Lloyd's idea," said Raine, "let us let him choose the two teams."

Kratos grunted. "If we are going to the Wind Seal, I suggest that you take Sheena."

"That's right," said Sheena, "I have to make the pact with Sylph."

"Okay," said Lloyd, "that means Sheena and I'll go for sure. I'll also take Kratos and Genis."

"Oh…" groaned Zelos as he turned around with his shoulders slumped.

"Yeah, thanks Lloyd!" shouted Genis, giving his friend a high-five.

"As you wish," said Kratos. "I suggest we leave immediately. It will take almost an entire day to reach there by foot."

"Don't move an inch," said Raine. She was typing a bunch of keys now, watching a screen to her right with a circular diagram on it. "Actually, if you could all gather together in the middle of that circle on the floor, that would be great."

"What for, Professor?" asked Lloyd.

"This room has an emergency teleporter built into it," Raine explained. "It was only meant for two people at the most, but I'm sure all four of you can squeeze in."

"In that case…" Kratos walked over to Raine and handed her the com unit that Yuan gave him. "Please contact Yuan and tell him what has happened."

Raine took the com unit but eyed Kratos warily. "Don't betray us again, Kratos," she said icily. Kratos ignored the not so veiled threat and walked back to the teleporter.

"We're ready Professor!" said Lloyd gleefully. "This is fun. We get to go through the teleporter again!"

"Don't worry sis," said Genis, "I'll watch after him. Honestly Lloyd, the last time was not fun."

"Huh?" Lloyd asked quizzically, "What do you mean?"

Genis shook his head, "Never mind, Lloyd."

"You may activate the teleport," said Kratos.

Raine shook her head and pressed a button. There was a slight whirring above the four intrepid rescuer's heads. Then they were gone. No flash of light, they were just gone.

"Not like our experience," mused Zelda.

"No," said Raine. After a moment's thought, she said, "Do either of you know where the villagers are?"

"When we tried our little rescue stunt, someone in here trapped them inside several room," said Zelos. "We came here to try and set them free. That dude," Zelos pointed behind him at the dead guy on the floor, "was in the way. Needless to say, he didn't stay there very long, thanks to this little gal here." Zelos went to sling his greasy arm around Zelda's shoulders. The princess stepped backwards just as he got in range and led the philanderer fall onto his face. "That's just cold," Zelos said with a pinched nose accent.

Zelda ignored Zelos and walked up to Raine. "Do you think you could find the prisoners and open the doors? I wasn't able to work this strange machine very well."

Raine set her jaw and turned back to the consol. "I'll do my best," she said. "But this is a most unusual consol."

"Ouch… I think my nose is bleeding," Zelos groaned from the floor.

* * *

- - - **Sylvarant, Balacruf Mausoleum** - - -

"That was a lot smoother than the one from the Triet Desert Base," said Genis.

"You guys got to teleport here from the Desert Base!" shouted Lloyd! "Awe man, I only got to experience the one on the way into that base."

"Lloyd," said Kratos, "be quiet. It appears that we are not alone."

"What?" Lloyd quickly scanned his surroundings. In front of him was the giant stone building that was the Balacruf Mausoleum. To his right and left were trees. And behind him, more trees. The only thing Lloyd could find besides the four of them was a rabbit that decided fighting them was the same as asking a wolf to eat it. "What are you talking about Kratos?"

"Lloyd, above us," shouted Genis. Lloyd looked up and gasped. "It's that giant eagle from the desert!"

The giant Eagle was soaring back and forth in the air, high up in the sky. But it was so large that it looked like it was closer. Kratos unsheathed his sword and Sheena flipped several cards into her hand as the enormous bird descended toward them. Its shadow grew bigger and the wind picked up the closer it got.

The giant bird finally swooped down and flapped madly to stabilize itself, sending dirt, twigs, and mini tornados into the air. The group shielded their faces from the onslaught of dirt and random objects, one of which was a Desian boot. Finally the wind died down, and the group was allowed to see once more. Kratos was about to shoot forward and attack this new beast when words as clear as a bell filtered into their head.

"Greeting warriors," said the Eagle into their minds. Its voice was strong and rich, much like what Lloyd imagined what an Eagle would sound like. "My name is Neppolo."

"Hey," Genis said with sudden realization. "That voice we heard inside the Fire Seal."

Neppolo nodded. "Indeed. But there is not time for that now. Soon. But now you must aid the Chosen Hero. Though he is strong enough to battle this proving ground on his own, there is one evil one that has entered in search of the Chosen Hero's prize. I believe you call him Kh'vharr."

"Kvar," Kratos growled under his breath. "The black hearted brigand is here." The mercenary actually smiled a toothy grin, but not one born of happiness.

"Yes," Neppolo said. "The entrance that this evil one forced the Chosen Hero to open has been caved in by an earthquake caused by the Chosen Hero. I am sad to say though, I can not reveal more, but I am bound to the Legend. Please, aid the Chosen Hero."

"Don't worry about it," said Lloyd. "We came here to save Link anyway. So we would have helped anyway."

"Yeah," said Genis. "And you saved us some time by telling us the entrance was caved in. Thank you." Neppolo nodded and took off in another whirlwind of dust.

"Are you sure we should be trusting this thing," asked Sheena dubiously.

Lloyd turned to her with his arms out questioningly. "It's a giant talking eagle. What harm could it do?"

* * *

Oh if only you knew, Lloyd. If only you knew. Mwaaahahahahahahaaaaaa…

**Dark Link**: "I am starting to like you…. Not."

**Link**: "I'm back! Anything happen while I was out?"

**Dark Link**: "You mean while you were gushing your pitiful little heart out at that pansy-ass shrink? No."

Well, it finally is finished. Next chapter I can do a triple happening, following Kvar, Link, and Lloyd's team as they make their way to the final showdown. I have a feeling that some of you will really like the final incarnation that the Mask Link has will provide.

On another note, I apologize again for how long it took for this chapter to be finished. So many distractions… Hopefully this made up for it. Please review!

**Link**: "And thanks for reading!"

And remember, the character that gets the most votes gets to do the disclaimer!!


	25. Balacruf Dungeon Part Three

Well, as far as Author Notes go, this one's going to be short. Thank you _**Jenova Remnant AKA Fishie**_, _**freakyanimegal456**_, _**Amekoryuu**_, _**NightmareSyndrom**_, _**Canada Cowboy**_, _**Sythe2**_, _**eliteforce**_, _**Toyax**_, _**pokemon-35055**_, and _**mandrakefunnyjuice**_ for reviewing. The winner of the Character vote is: Link

**Link**: "Okay, I.K.A. Valian does not own Tales of Symphonia or The Legend of Zelda."

**Dark Link**: "I bet the world would be better off if I owned them. A lot of things would, actually. Explosions for everyone!"

**Link**: "You suck, Dark Link, you really do."

**Dark Link**: "Not as much as you do, sissy boy!"

**Link**: "Shove it!"

(_The two boys start fighting… again_).

Every time… on with the story!

* * *

- - - **Sylvarant/Balacruf Mausoleum** (Link) - - -

"Link!"

Loud buzzing filled the darkness. It made his head spin horribly. Made him want to upchuck his lunch. But why? He was dreaming, he had to be. As soon as he opened his eyes, he'd find himself in his own room. Back in his bed with the sheets pulled all the way up to his chin. He could feel his mother putting her hand onto his forehead. It was cool and soothing, as it always was, as he needed it to be.

"Link, wake up!"

Why was his mother calling to him? She sounded so far away. It made his foggy mind spin all the more as he tried to reason why his mother's voice was so far away, echoing in the distance, but at the same time, he could feel her fingers tip toeing around on his forehead.

"Link!" cried his mother. "Link, please wake up! Open your eyes."

Link was worried now. Not only was the dizziness getting worse, but the worry in his mother's voice was making him worried. So he tried, really hard, to open his eyes. All the effort he put into moving his seemingly stone eyelids made his head spin faster and faster. By time the first blurred out images traveled along his worn out optic nerve to his brain, Link was ready to fall back into the dark abyss for another nap.

"Link!" A bright blue ball appeared just in front of his face. "That's it Link! You can do it! Wake up! Open your eyes!"

Link parted his parsed lips and croaked out, "Nn-aaa-vviii?" Link realized that he really must have been hit hard. For one thing, Navi didn't sound anything like his mother. And more disappointingly, Link's real mother never worried about him like that. Not anymore.

"Yes!" The blue ball flipped several times in the air and then settled in front of him again. "You were trapped in this room with that Iron Knuckle. I-I don't know how, but you beat it. When the doors reopened, I found lying on the floor in a pool of your own blood. But… it seems you've stopped bleeding. I don't know, I'm not good with these sorts of things."

Link lifted his arm to feel the back of his head. His back and entire upper skeletal structure cried out in pain from the impact with the wall during the fight. That fight. He couldn't remember anything about it. But there was a fight… wasn't there?

His fingers touched the scabbed blood on and in his dirty blond hair. It originated from a large bump on the back of his head. He grimaced from the pain that exploded from the knot when he lightly ran his fingers over its rough surface.

"Link, you need to get up," said Navi, "There's a pool of water in the next room that you can clean your head up with."

Link tried to move his legs, but the movement made more pain radiate from his head wound. Minutes flew by as Link forced his legs to move, disregarding the pain in his head. He'd dealt with worse. His parents were always scolding him for getting the snot beat out of him. His father was sore at him because he never stood up for himself. His mother, though concerned, became so used to the sight of Link coming home in his own blood from one wound or another that it almost seemed like she couldn't be bothered to help him after the tenth time. The other kids didn't stop hurting him after the tenth time though. Some Hero he was.

The minutes ticked by as Link forced his body to move up the stairs. Large beads of sweat fell from his face and twinkled in the light before splashing audibly onto the dusty brown rock steps. Despite the cool air flowing past him in the underground labyrinth, his tunic was soaked with sweat and his arms and face were shiny with perspiration.

"Come on Link, you're almost there!" Navi hovered over Links head. His labored breathing was causing her to come up with another encouraging comment every few seconds. By the time Link appeared at the entrance to the next room, he was not only out of breath and unable to take another step, but his ears were twitching every time he heard Navi open her mouth to speak.

"Navi," he gasped, "Please… I'm not going to… stop here. So please… stop pestering… me."

"Well what do you expect me to do," she asked quizzically. "You look like an Iron Knuckle and a Lizalfo took turns body slamming you."

Link stood and thought about how fitting an end that would be to his pitiful existence. Squished by two ugly monsters any real Hero would be able to take out without a sweat. That'd be the perfect way to go for someone like him.

"Come on," said Navi. She flew into the room and came to a stop over a pool of water. Her glow made gave the liquid an unearthly blue glow that reflected back into the room. Little waves were created by the lift her wings were creating to hold her up. Link stood mesmerized for several seconds, dumbly staring at the way that the waves of reflected light moved about the room.

"Link!" Navi wobbled back and forth above the water. "Hurry up before you fall over."

Link blinked a few times and started the journey across the room to the illuminated pool of water. Three feet from the pool, Link's boot caught on something. He hit the floor with a dull thud, is face making a splash in the shallow part of the water. The cushioning effect that the cool, soothing liquid had was not unnoticed by the boy, but the impact still made his head feel like it was about to explode.

"You are a clumsy boy," Navi admonished. "Is anything broken?"

"Rrrrmmm," Link groaned.

"What was that?"

"Rrrrmmm," he groaned again.

"Would you lift your head and not speak into the water?"

"Why am I still doing this," Link muttered to himself. "I was never any good… no matter what I did."

"It's a healing pool," Navi explained, ignoring Link's musings. She started flying lazy circles around Link, explaining as he bent over and started drinking as much water as he could. "It wasn't here originally, but I guess some time over the years the waters must have found a crack somewhere and leaked in. The healing part probably comes from the magic that holds this place up. But I'm not too sure about that. Who knows, could be a healing fairy stuck in the wall there somewhere, ha ha."

"I don't care how it got here," Link said in between slurps of water. Navi wobbled oddly from the motion of crossing her arms and shaking her head.

"Either way, now that you're all better, let's get going. We have a lot of ground to cover. Speaking of which, could you get out that mask."

Link took a deep breath and sat back. "I… I don't want to do this anymore."

"What?" asked Navi. She flew over to hover in front of Link. "Come on, get that mask out and blow those boulders up."

"I mean it Navi. I… I'm not cut out for this. I never was." Link shivered slightly in the now cooler air. "I almost died back there. Heck, I've almost died several times so far. I don't know why the princess called to me. And at this point, I don't really care. All my life I've always pretended to be this Hero. But I always, always, failed. I'm just going to do the same thing again, so I think the safest thing to do, for me and everyone else, is to just stop pretending."

"But Link…" Navi squeaked. "You're the Hero. I mean, you're him! No one but you ca-"

"Stop it!" Link shouted. He swatted at Navi, sending her flying away. Then he curled up and hid his face in between his knees. "I don't want to be the Hero anymore!"

Navi's blue hue flickered back and forth between a lighter blue and a darker pink. "I'm not sure… what do I do… How… Why? Why are you doing this, Link? You're supposed to come in here and… and I'm supposed to help you… and… I don't remember what else. But I know you're not supposed to be like this!"

"I don't care!" Link said from behind his legs. "I'm tired of being hurt. I'm tired of others making fun of me. I'm tired of losing. I'm tired of it all. I don't want to be the Hero anymore! It's… too painful. I'm tired of all my hopes and dreams being squashed every time I try. I don't even have to do anything before there is someone trying to steal them or outright destroy them. No more! I'm not doing it anymore! I don't want to be a loser anymore!"

"Link…" Navi's voice was wavering lightly. "Link, please, I… I don't know how to do this alone. I… need you're help. Please!"

"No!" Link sniffed loudly and brought his arm to his face and wiped furiously. "Find someone who's not going to screw it up. I'll just mess everything up. I can't even save the Princess without getting us both sent to another dimension. I'm not cut out for this. I can't do it!" Link pulled out the mask and threw it as hard as he could into the darkness. "I don't want to be the Hero!"

The white face mask flew into the darkness and clattered loudly on the ground somewhere on the other side of the room. Navi wavered back and forth. She emitted small whimpers everywhere she went. It wasn't supposed to be like this. She didn't know what to say. She couldn't remember the words. Every time she tried to think of the words, a black void reached into her mind and snatched them away.

"Link," she whimpered. "I'm scared. I… I… I don't know what to do."

Link didn't respond. He didn't want to. He wanted all of this to go away. He really wanted to be back in that warm, and safe, bed. Snuggled under the covers, the only place he really did feel safe anymore. Navi stayed above him for several minutes, groaning and moaning without actually saying anything. Then suddenly, she was gone.

"What a wimp." Link shuddered and shrank in onto himself. He didn't want to think about his dark copy. He was done with the Hero business. "Well now. It seems like I don't have a purpose anymore. Oh well. I guess the first thing I'll do is kill you. Then I can go and kill that little Princess of yours."

"Shut up!" Link shouted. "Go away! I'm not the Hero anymore! Go find someone else to fight with, I'm done!"

"Heh." A hand grabbed a firm hold onto Link's shirt and lifted him into the air. Because the torches from the hallway didn't reach into this room, Link had no way of seeing his dark counterpart. He could feel him tightening his grip though. "I don't think so, boy. You're done when I tell you you're done. Ha!"

Dark Link spun around and threw Link as hard as he could. Link didn't even try to stop him. He flew through the darkness and landed on the ground roughly. His shirt, which wasn't in good condition to begin with, was now ripped where Dark Link was holding it right over his collar bone.

"It doesn't matter what you want, boy," sneered Dark Link. "You are the Hero. For now and forever."

"Nooo!" Link shouted. He clenched his fists, pushed himself up, and launched himself in the direction that he last heard Dark Link.

"Oh, look at that," jeered Dark Link from the opposite direction. "You went the exact opposite direction that I did. If you were smarter, you wouldn't have shunned that stupid fairy. At least then you'd be able to see." Link grit his teeth tighter and launched himself again in the direction that he last heard his doppelganger's voice.

"Missed again, Hero," Dark Link taunted from the opposite side of the room.

"No!" Link shouted. "I refuse! I'm not the Hero anymore!"

"You are a fool, Hero!"

"Shut up! I hate you! I hate the Hero! I'm not him! NO!"

"Heh, heh," chuckled the Dark Link. "Do you, foolish Hero, think that just anyone carries the Triforce of Courage with them?"

"That's…" Link faltered and looked down at his hand, which he could barely see the outline of. Dark Link suddenly smacked Link in the back of the head. "Ow!" Link swung back with his hand, but hit nothing but air.

"Too slow Hero!" Dark Link laughed. "Try to keep up, will you!"

"Why are you doing this to me?" Link shouted. "Make someone else be the Hero! I don't want this stupid Triforce! I don't want it!"

"You are a pitiful crybaby, Hero." The Dark Link snorted loudly. "Hard to imagine why the Goddesses would choose someone as weak willed and as childish as you to be the Hero."

"That's just it," said Link, "they didn't choose me! I don't want to be the Hero, so I'm not the Hero. Someone else must be him!"

"I don't think so, Hero." There was a sudden whooshing as Dark Link dashed forward and grabbed Link's left arm. The Triforce mark on the back of his hand suddenly exploded with light. The brightest pulse coming from the bottom right golden triangle of the three. "Do you see that? That's the mark of the Hero! Hahahaha! You are him!"

"Noo!" shouted Link again. He clenched his eyes shut and for a brief second the golden light coming from the Triforce mark pulsed brightly. Link balled his right hand and let it fly. The blow connected solidly with Dark Link's jaw.

Dark Link staggered back. When he let go of Link's wrist, the glow from the Triforce mark died out. Link opened his eyes again to find himself back in the darkness.

"Nice…" said Dark Link. "That was certainly unexpected."

"I'm not the Hero!" shouted Link. "I'm not going to be him either. I don't care what's in my hand or not!"

"Well, if that's the case. Then I see no reason to go on with this. It was fun playing with your head, but I'm getting bored. Time to end this so I can move onto that Princess of yours!"

"Don't you-umph-" Link felt all the air in his lungs forcefully ejected by Dark Link's fist as it slammed into his stomach.

"What was that, Wimpy Hero?" Dark Link asked. "Did you say something?" Though he couldn't see him, he knew that the Dark Link was grinning. "Heh, didn't think so!"

The Dark Link grabbed Link's shoulders and pulled his upper body down to meet his knee. Several ribs snapped from the impact.

"I wonder how many ways I can make that little Princess of yours scream. Hahahahahahaha!" Dark Link punched Link in the face several time and ended by roundhouse kicking the boy in the shoulder. Link fell to the ground and stayed still.

The metallic ring of a sword being drawn echoed throughout the room as Dark Link drew his sword and swung it about. "I guess she better not wait up for you, Hero, because you'll be dead."

"Stop… calling me… Hero!" Link gasped. He reached a hand out to grab Dark Link's leg, but his hand instead collided with something cold and smooth.

"I call you what you are, Hero. I do enjoy watching you suffer though. Perhaps I should have called you Hero more often." Link listened as Dark Link feet approached him. That's when an idea popped into his head, one that made him wish he really were back at home under his blankets again. "Since you don't want to be the Hero so badly," said Dark Link as he stopped just in front of him, "I enjoy pointing out that you are the Hero, and there's nothing you can do about it. At least, there was nothing you could do about it, because now you're dead."

"Shut… Up!" Link shouted. He grabbed what his fingers collided with and brought the object to his face. "Bomb!"

The explosion was not as large as the one that blew apart the rock golem, but it was violently fiery enough to destroy the wall behind Link. Along each wall in the dark room, magic began lighting torches.

Link pulled the mask away from his face and looked around the room, but couldn't find Dark Link anywhere. He could still hear him chuckling though.

"So… hahahaha… in order to prove to yourself that you weren't the Hero, you proved that you were. Heh, what an incredible piece of work you are, Hero. Hahahahahaha!"

Link cringed as Dark Link's laughter echoed into the distance. He didn't want to accept it. He couldn't accept it. He was not the Hero and he was never going to be.

"I'm not the Hero," said Link into the empty room. "I never will be. I'll prove it. I'll show you. I'll show all of you! And when I fail and everyone's dead, you'll all be sorry!"

Link grimaced as he stood up and turned around. He would need some more of that water to heal whatever it was that Dark Link broke. "Navi!" was half out of his mouth when he saw the monument with glowing runes on its side. It looked exactly like the first one, except the room wasn't glowing red around it. Sighing, Link held the mask up and it floated from his hands.

* * *

- - - **Sylvarant/Balacruf Mausoleum** (Lloyd) - - -

It was windy and it was cold. It was that way for a long time inside of the Mausoleum, ever since it was sealed by the royal Balacruf Family over two thousand years earlier. During that long period of peace, randomly interrupted by Chosen's every so many years, the entire tomb became a den of monsters and other creatures.

The entrance to the tomb, whose job it was to assure that none but the Chosen of the time entered, was protected by a stone slab over four feet thick. The only way to move the slab was to engage a semi-magitech machine from the outside that would cause the stone slab to sink into the floor. It was this slab that Lloyd and the others were staring at for several minutes, trying to figure out how to get it to move.

"You know, I never though a giant rock would be this much trouble," mused Lloyd. "I mean, it's a rock. It can't do anything but sit there."

"Lloyd, I can make rocks kill people," said Genis. "They don't just sit there when Mana is involved."

"Kratos, why didn't you mention that we needed Zelos to open the Seal?" Sheena asked.

"I did not mention it because there are other ways of opening this Seal." Kratos stood to the side of the slab, inspecting the wall to the right of the giant stone slab. He had his hand up against the wall where he was letting his fingers slide over the roughly carved, but highly polished stone.

"What do you mean?" asked Lloyd. "Kratos?"

Kratos fingers slid down another inch and then stopped. For a moment he let his fingers rest in that spot, and then moved on, sliding them down again. When he reached a level parallel to his waist, which was still taller than Genis, he stopped again. And for several more seconds nothing happened.

"I don't have a clue what he's doing," said Genis. "I bet Raine would know though. She's read more books about this place and the whole Balacruf dynasty than anyone I know."

"You guys sure had a lot of books," said Lloyd. "I don't know why, I mean, there was no way you could have read them all."

"Just because you read at the pace of a snail," retorted Genis, "doesn't mean everyone does."

"Hey…" Lloyd grabbed Genis and started tickling him.

"Lloyd! He, he, he!" Genis twisted out of Lloyd's grasp, using his oft remarked short stature to his advantage. "Don' t make me use my secret technique," said the half elf with a dangerous grin on his face.

"I'm done," said Kratos. The two boys stopped their little friendly showdown and looked at Kratos. Nothing was different, the door was still there, smiling brightly at the sunny skies above, denying their entrance happily. But moments later, the stone slab started shaking and began to sink downward.

"Wow, what did you-" The rumbling suddenly stopped, cutting Lloyd off. Kratos froze, having turned moments after the door started moving to walk away. In two blinks of an eye, Kratos pulled his sword free of the scabbard, sliced at the stone slab horizontally, and ended the quick maneuver by replacing his sword smoothly back into its scabbard.

The top half of the slab slid backwards at a shallow downward angle and then toppled onto the floor inside of the Mausoleum's entrance. Kratos snorted and started climbing into the new entrance to the Balacruf Mausoleum.

Once everyone was inside, they gathered themselves together just beyond the large stone slab where the most light was shining in. Lloyd was not shivering like Genis, but he did have his arms crossed tightly over his chest. Sheena was doing the same and Kratos was standing there like a rock in a blizzard, totally uncaring.

"Why doesn't Kratos ever get cold or too hot," asked Genis. He rubbed his hands together to try and generate some warmth in them.

"It's cause he's a hard boiled mercenary," explained Lloyd. A sudden gust of wind cut off any conversation. It died down quickly though.

"The lights will not have been lit in here because the Chosen mechanism has not been activated," explained Kratos. "Be on guard for room sized traps. The Balacruf Dynasty was famous for killing tomb raiders."

"But we're not raiding a tomb," said Lloyd.

"Lloyd, this whole place is a tomb," said Sheena. "There are traps everywhere in here."

"Oh…" Lloyd thought on this for several seconds and then grinned. "This is so cool! We're like explorers or something!"

"Sure Lloyd," said Genis. "You'll be bored of this in several minutes anyway."

"Let's go!" shouted Lloyd as he ran off into the dark hall.

"Lloyd!" Genis took off as fast as he could after Lloyd. Kratos sighed in exasperation and both he and Sheena followed the two boys into the Mausoleum.

* * *

- - - **Sylvarant/Balacruf Mausoleum** (Kvar) - - -

Kvar raised his right hand into the air. All motion around him stopped. The man securing the new bridge across the chasm stopped mid swing of the hammer and stood up straight at attention.

"It appears that this earthquake was not a natural one," said Kvar. He lowered his hand and continued speaking. "Someone that we don't know about was down here. It could even be those rats, the Renegades. Though I don't know how they learned of our operation so quickly."

"Sir," said the Desian workman holding the hammer to his head in a salute. "The bridge repairs are complete."

"I think it's time we searched this cavern more thoroughly," mused Kvar aloud. "I'll lead a five person team down the branching set of stairs while the rest of you move on to the final chamber. Don't descend into the pit. Simply… wait."

"Yes sir!" acknowledged all fourteen of the men.

Moments later Kvar led four Desian soldiers down the stairs next to the hole in the wall that his men had earlier blasted into the rock. They descended the long set of stairs until finally the entrance to the Octorok room appeared in the distance.

Kvar walked into the room and grinned his shrewd and evil grin. Link, who'd walked into the room at the same time but from the opposite side, stared in horror.

"I see we meet again," Kvar cackled. "So nice of you to drop back into my hands."

Kvar motioned for his men to move forward with on flick of his hand. The four Desian soldiers moved forward as one. Just as they passed in front of the pool of water, there was a loud 'sploosh' and the Octorok's head popped up above the surface. The Desian soldiers failed to notice this though and continued on their way until one of them was knocked onto his rear by a flying ball of Octorok spit.

"Gross!" shouted the Desian. "What is this stuff?!"

"Hey, that thing is spitting at us!" shouted one of the downed Desian's comrades. "Kill it!"

The Desian turned and opened fire with their Mana based machine guns. The Octorok wasn't stupid enough to wait for the bullets of pure Mana to tear it to pieces. The creature dove beneath the surface of the water just as the bullets began biting into the water's surface.

The four Desians stopped shooting when they realized that there wasn't anything spitting back. They all crept closer to the water, keeping their rifles aimed at the waves still lapping across the surface.

"Stop him!" The soldiers didn't have time to turn before Link jumped passed them and into the pool of water, cannon ball style. The four Desians were covered from head to toe in water from the splash.

"Fools!" Kvar walked up behind them and shot each of the men in the left foot with a Mana based hand gun. Though the bullet did not tear into their feet and blow open a bloody hole, it did have the same physical reaction. And to Kvar's satisfaction, the nerves in their feet would be acting up painfully for a long, long time. That thought alone made Kvar smile, which completely weirded out his soldiers who now faced him while trying not to stand on their left feet.

"You two," Kvar pointed to the two Desians on his left. "You go up those stairs and see what that little rodent was doing up there. And you two," Kvar pointed at the two Desians on his right, "wait for the boy to surface. If he doesn't, use your underwater gear and retrieve his body. You'd better hope he comes out of this alive or you'll be wishing I'd shot more than just your feet right now."

"Yes sir," the four Desians said while saluting.

"When you're done," Kvar added, "report back to me in the final chamber, I'll be returning there alone."

"Yes sir," the four repeated.

Kvar turned without another word and started the long journey back up the stairs. The four Desians waited until he was out of earshot and eyesight before they started hopping up and down, shouting in pain. Each one fell to the ground holding their left foot.

* * *

- - - **Sylvarant/Balacruf Mausoleum** (Link) - - -

Link was swimming as fast and as hard as he could. He didn't know what he was thinking when he jumped into the pool of water. He knew he was going to drown. And then that Kvar would win. So would Agahnim. So much for Link the non-Hero, he thought.

Link reached up with his hand and rubbed the mask under his tunic. It kept moving around and tickling his chest as he swam. Moving it around though didn't seem to work, so he pulled the mask out and swam with it in his hand. At least he tried to keep swimming, but every time he took a stroke, hundreds of bubbles would explode from the mask.

For an entire minute, Link stopped swimming and stared at the mask. No, he thought, it couldn't be. Shaking his head, Link held the mask up to his face and breathed in. He wasn't as surprised as he would have been before this crazy journey started to find that he could indeed breathe, quite regularly.

No longer straining to hold his breath, Link started swimming again. He looked over his shoulder, but the only thing he could see behind him was more of this underwater tube. The Octorok was not in the water when he jumped in. There were no fish either. The tunnel itself looked like it was carved by hand, but the walls and ceiling were not flat and even, but rough and jagged, almost as if this tunnel was a last minute idea.

Link swam down the dim tunnel, idly wondering how he could see without light, when the tunnel suddenly veered off in two directions. Concluding that it didn't matter which direction he went in, he'd die horribly either way, Link swam into the right tunnel. He didn't have much longer to swim though because he soon emerged from the tunnel into a well lit and very large room. The sounds of water splashing and wet foot steps echoed easily and for a long time.

The floor was covered in patterns of one sort or another. Someone with a chisel and a lifetime of nothing to do couldn't have done better. Most prominent of these carvings was a large and geometrically correct carving of the Triforce. In the center of the space between the three triangles was a tall pole topped by an unlit torch. In the center of each triangle was a small pedestal. Each pedestal had dust marks indicative of something having been sitting on them relatively recently.

Link studied the room for several minutes, waiting for some monster to pop out of nowhere to eat him or for an idea to hit him in the head. The latter happened when he spotted something buried in the wall. When he finally pulled it free of the hard packed dirt, he was holding a large, heavy, gold triangle.

"It's a Triforce," Link said to himself. He turned his head, looking back and forth between the golden triangle in his hands and the symbol carved into the floor. "Perhaps I should put the triangles back on the pedestals."

Link hobbled with the heavy golden triangle to the closest pedestal and heaved the gold laden weight onto it. Free of the weight, Link started scanning the walls for another sign that something was buried underneath. But there were no more bumps or other tell tales signs of something buried in the wall.

"Now what?" asked Link. "I guess I failed… again." Link kicked a rock on the floor in defeat. The rock sailed through the air and knocked a rock loose from the wall. The rock knocked loose from the wall pulled others with it. Pretty soon an entire section of the wall was lying in a pile on the floor. Revealed was a hidden room with another golden triangle lying on the center of the floor within.

"Oh great," said Link. He grunted as he picked up the second golden laden weight. "Why couldn't they make these things lighter," Link grunted as he wobbled across the room toward the next pedestal. Before he could make it though, his boot caught on one of the carved lines and he tripped. The golden triangle flew from his grasp and landed a short distance away with a loud metallic clank.

Link frowned. "That sounded like it hit metal," he mumbled. Link pried the heavy weight that he dropped off of the ground and looked at the hole it created upon impact with the ground. Gold shined back up at him from beneath the cracked surface of the stone carving of a badly designed grinning ladies face.

Several minutes of hard labor later, all three golden triangles were sitting upon a pedestal. Once the final golden weight was in place, the torch on top of the pole in the center of the Triforce carving roared to life.

The ground rumbled as the wall on the far side of the room, opposite the water tunnel entrance, slid away to reveal another part of the room. Inside was another glowing monument. And on the back wall was another set of carvings.

A set of stone stairs rose from the floor. When the final step locked into place, the room stopped shaking. Link walked up to the stairs to the new second level. His mouth dropped in awe of the new carving, which was several levels better in artistic skill than the floor was. There were drawings of nine people on one end. On the other end was a carving of the mask Link had inside of his tunic. Rays of light and gusts of wind surrounded the mask. In between, there was a whole array of different carvings that told a story of some kind, but Link couldn't understand the words carved next to the pictures.

"I remember everything now."

Link turned and spotted Navi sitting on the tip top of the monument. "Navi!"

"Actually," the fairy said seriously, "My name was Zephyr. But I suppose you can keep calling me Navi if you want. I… had forgotten so much."

Link turned back to the story carved into the wall. "Do you know what this is then?"

"Yes," said Navi. "Actually, I was the one who carved it. A long, long time ago."

"You carved this? But… why?"

Navi sighed. "I am the guardian of this dungeon's piece of the Proto-Triforce. I always have been. Ever since we sealed Agahnim with it."

"We?"

"The nine of us," said Navi, flying over to the carving of the nine people. "It so very long ago that we all set out from Hyrule. We were the ninth team sent out by the Great King to find the Goddesses. At least, that was the impression I had of our mission. It turned out that our King was corrupt and wanted more power than even the Triforce could grant him. He wanted the power of a God. Agahnim was his loyal servant, something which only became clear after we arrived here."

"So… you know the Spell of Before then, right?" Link looked at Navi hopefully. The fair swayed from side to side.

"No, I was never that good at using Magic. I was a warrior. I used my wind Magic to enhance my own and the others physical abilities. I was the youngest warrior in the group, so naive. Do you know, it took fifty years to carve this dungeon out of the rock? I learned a lot in that time." Navi flew back up to the carving, next to the large picture of a tall man with the piercing eyes of a bird of prey. "Neppolo tried to teach me new Magic, but the most I could accomplish was that silly mask you have."

The room fell into silence. Link watched Navi float next to the picture of the eagle eyed man for several minutes. But his curious mind got the better of him. "Why did you use the Proto-Triforce to seal away Agahnim?" asked Link, breaking the solemn silence.

Navi stayed next to the eagle eyed man picture for several more seconds and then flew away from it to float next to Link. "He was insane, and far too powerful to just lock up or kill. Even if we had done something like that, it would only be a matter of time before he broke loose and we'd have to catch him and lock him up again. We needed something more permanent to hold him, especially after he used the Niflheim book to enhance his already powerful shadow Magic. It was Katrina who came up with the idea of sealing Agahnim in the Proto-Triforce and then splitting up the pieces to insure that he never gained the strength to break free." Navi flew over to the picture of the nine people, right next to the picture of a green haired woman with electrical sparks surrounding her.

Link stood and walked up to the wall. The picture of a phantasm being sucked into the Proto-Triforce while screaming was so intricately drawn that it sent chills down his spine. Navi moved to hover over his shoulder.

"That was a night I'd never forget," said Navi forlornly. "Even when I couldn't remember anything, I could still hear his screams and pleadings, his tortured cries for mercy… his threats. All of us who were left swore to protect the pieces so that he could never escape. One or two of us began to believe that someone, anyone would come to destroy Agahnim, that the Goddesses would have to send someone to wipe this kind of evil away, but no one ever came. At least, not until you arrived, Link."

"Stop," said Link. "I'm not-"

"It's okay, Link." Navi patted the top of Link's ear. "I don't think it was right to have pushed anything onto you. I don't know how or why you're the one who showed up, but you are here. And if Agahnim has been released, then something must be done." Navi fell silent for a second before she started chuckling.

"What's so funny?"

"I was just thinking about how I got stuck in all of this mess. I wasn't that much older than you, actually, just 16 years old. My master called me in one day and said that I'd been chosen by the King for a very important mission. And here I am… still on the mission."

Link sighed. "I'm not this Hero," he said resolutely. "I'm never going to be. But… everyone wants me to be this Hero." Link lowered his head and studied the floor. "I don't want to be the Hero, but I can't be anything else until others stop bothering me about it. So I'll do what they want me to, I'll do what the Hero would do. That way, when I don't succeed and I fail, everyone will stop asking so much of me and just leave me alone."

Navi thought about what Link said for a few minutes and then tapped Link on the ear. He turned and looked at the ball of light. "If you don't want to be the Hero, then I won't ask you to be. I know how horrible it is to be expected to do something when you're completely unsuited for the job. But, because you want to prove that you're not the Hero, then I say, give this journey everything you have. If you're going to fail, fail spectacularly. Give those who forced you onto this journey something other than Hero to call you."

Link smiled. For the first time in his life, he genuinely felt happy. He finally met someone that actually cared about how he felt, someone who understood he was just a boy, Link, the weak little boy with dreams that never came true.

"And the first thing you could do, is hold the mask up to the monument," said Navi flying into the air around the top of the monument. Link frowned wryly and pulled the mask out. The white face ornament floated from his hands toward the monument, repeating the process from all the other monuments.

* * *

- - - **Sylvarant/Balacruf Mausoleum** (Lloyd) - - -

"Man, this place is boring!"

"I told you so," said Genis smugly.

"Shut it, Genis."

"We are near the summoning altar," said Kratos. "I would assume you'd be happy this is almost over."

"I'm happy we didn't get skewered in that last room," said Sheena. "We almost died."

"No thanks to Lloyd," Genis grumbled.

"How was I supposed to know that X meant death!" shouted Lloyd defensively. "I thought it mean that it was a secret room or something."

"Wind Blade!" Kratos cast the wind spell on the small windmill next to a large stone door. The door slowly sank into the floor, revealing a light filled stair well ascending to the roof. "Come," said the mercenary, "let us acquire the next summoning pact and then find your friend."

The four emerged from the stair well onto the roof of the Mausoleum. It was a large and very open. Gusts of wind blew in all directions, causing the frilly parts of Kratos' and Sheena's outfits to flap about. Everyone's hair was all over the place, including Lloyd's perpetually spiky hair.

"What's that?" asked Genis, pointing to a large machine with wires, hoses, and other long, string like objects connecting it to the altar.

"That's one of those Mana siphoning machines," said Sheena. There was one in the Fire Seal. Kvar must be trying to steal Wind Mana from Sylph!"

"We got to stop him," said Lloyd.

"I'd like to see you try, hahahahahaha!" Everyone froze and turned around.

"Kvar," mutter Kratos, reaching for his sword.

"Frankly, I'm surprised you figured it out, Kratos," sneered the evil man. "How did you manage to track me here?"

"You should be more careful who you tell your plans to," boasted Lloyd. "We found out everything you're trying to do in Asgard. But we stopped you, every one of your men in that base are dead! Soon, you'll be joining them."

"Is that so, subject A001." Kvar chuckled loudly. "I finally learned about you, Lloyd Irving. It took me a while, because information is so much harder to come by now, but you are the one I've been searching for. Had I know earlier, I would have taken your Exsphere before now. I'll be taking it now." Suddenly, a dozen Desian's appeared with their machine guns leveled at the group.

"What's so special about my Exsphere?"

"Lloyd." The boy looked at Kratos. He wasn't looking away from Kvar, but he was speaking quietly enough so only their small group could hear. "Don't listen to this madman, he'll only attempt to play with your head. He's the worst kind of manipulator." And then to the rest of the group, he said, "It looks like we'll have to fight out way out of here and come back for the pact later. Be ready, follow my lead."

"Now now, Kratos," said Kvar, "you're not thinking of attempting an escape are you? How many times must we go through this scenario?"

"What are you talking about, Kvar?" growled Kratos.

"Oh you know," Kvar grinned slyly, "where you try to escape, and before you can do anything you're forced to kill the one you love the most. Last time you killed Lloyd here's mother."

"What!!" Lloyd jumped away from the group and drew his swords. "You killed my mother! Is this true Kratos?!"

"Lloyd!" shouted Kratos. "Get control of yourself!"

"It's true then!" Lloyd shouted, on the verge of tears. "You… you bastard! You killed mom!"

"Oh my, having a family spat I see," chuckled Kvar. "I think it's time to activate the second phase of the project then. Lloyd, what do the little birds sing when they blow up in a volcano?"

"What?" asked Genis. "What's that supposed to mean." He turned to Kratos, but the only thing he was doing was staring at Lloyd. In fact, some of the color was still draining from his face. Genis turned to look back at Lloyd but was socked violently in the face by a red glove clad fist.

* * *

The end.

**Link**: "What the heck was that?! You can't end it there!"

Yes I can. I just did, in fact.

**Link**: "But what's happening? What happened to Lloyd? Why is he punching Genis in the face? And what happened to me? And… and…"

**Dark Link**: "Quit whining you big wimpy baby."

**Link**: "I thought I pushed you off of a cliff."

**Dark Link**: "I can fly."

**Link**: (_Growling_) "Why… you…"

Okay, so tell me, was it exciting? Was it good? Did it fill that need some of you have for random violence and plot development/character development? Please review and tell me.

**Link**: "And thanks for reading. And voting for me… I feel so special."

**Dark Link**: "Just because you go to Special Ed, doesn't mean you are special. It means you are stupid."

**Link**: "I hate you Dark Link, I hate you a lot."

**Dark Link**: "Hey! That's my line!"


	26. Yes, We, Can!

_**Jenova Remnant AKA Fishie**_, _**freakyanimegal456**_, _**Poet Bucky**_, _**Rini Tsukino**_, _**Canada Cowboy**_, _**mandrakefunnyjuice**_, _**NightmareSyndrom**_, _**pokemon-35055**_, and _**Toyax**_ reviewed the last Chapter.

**Ubella**: "There you go again, thanking random people with seriously off-the-deep-end names. Who in Hyrule names their kid 'mandrakefunnyjuice'?"

Uhh… no one, they're not from Hyrule. These fine people live on Planet Earth. And those are their pen names, not their real names.

**Ubella**: "Uh… Err…."

**Link**: "Wow… she's speechless. How'd you do that?"

**Dark Link**: "I can get her out of that…" (_Walks up to Ubella._) "Hey hot stuff. Wanna get dump these losers and hitch a ride with me?"

**Ubella**: (_Growls and stomps on Dark Link's foot. Then walks off with her fists clenched._)

**Dark Link**: "I guess not…" (_Sighs while clutching his foot._)

**Link**: "Uh… okay. So, do we get to see what that new power is in the mask?"

No, this chapter takes place in Hyrule, mostly.

**Link**: "But… but what about Lloyd, and everthing else going on?"

Sorry, this chapter is about what's happening in Hyrule. I do not own Tales of Symphonia or The Legend of Zelda.

**Link**: "But-"

On with the story! Oh, the Desert Colossus has been reformatted/shortened for ease of use/exploration.

* * *

- - - Hyrule/Desert Colossus - - -

"Just how big is this place?"

"You mean you don't know," Colin asked incredulously. "Didn't the Gerudo build this place? How could you not know how big it is?!"

"Stop shouting, you stupid Hylian dog!" Ubella spun around and glared at Colin. The young boy clenched the scimitar in his hands tighter and glared back. "Do you really want to wake up _all_ the monster in here," she asked, her voice steady and quiet, but louder than a bullhorn.

Colin swallowed loudly and glanced about the room they were in warily. The walls were covered with ornate, but old and half eaten red cloths with golden symbols of the Gerudo woven into them. The stones, all of them, were still just as sandy brown as the day they were carved. The room itself was completely square and had no corners or dark places to hide in.

"There aren't any monsters in here," he said with wary confidence.

"Keep shouting and there will be," she said, already walking toward the exit on the other side of the room. "And if nothing appears," she said under her breath, "I'll shut you up."

"What was that?" asked Colin

"I said, let's hurry up, there's no knowing what's happened to Colette and the others. Goddess knows that stupid fish doesn't know what to do with herself and that other Hylian is too scrawny to have any strength."

Ubella walked up to the door and stared at it with a critical eye. It was composed of several wooden planks sitting on their edge, stacked up to the ceiling. Running perpendicular were two parallel strips of thick hard leather. Large iron nails were used to fasten the leather strips to the panels of wood. The bottom most panel of wood had several nasty metal spikes protruding from it, insuring anyone who tried to lift the door would walk away unable to use their hands for the rest of their lives.

Colin bent his knees and sat on his haunches while staring at the door. Then he clasped his hands together and closed his eyes. Ubella stopped thinking of ways to open the door and stared at Colin.

"What the Dark World do you think you're doing?"

"I'm praying to the Goddesses for help," he replied quietly. Ubella rolled her eyes and looked around the room for something they might have missed. When they entered the room, there were several blocks on the floor and several holes that they had to go into. When they were done putting the blocks into the holes, she expected the door to open or at least make a noise to assure the puzzle solver that it was unlocked. However, nothing happened.

Ubella scratched her head and walked back into the center of the room. Something seemed a little bit off. Whenever the Gerudo built someplace, they usually added a vent or some other kind of air hole. The only thing in this place was the two doors, one of which was locked tight.

"Where is the air coming from?" she pondered.

Suddenly the door opened, not the locked one, but the door that from which they entered the room. Before Ubella even had the chance to become alarmed, she grinned. Into the room, five people appeared. The first three that entered were Sisters Brea, Anna, and Lucia. Their hair and clothes were worn and sand blasted. Sister Natalina appeared behind the first three to enter. She didn't appear any better, in fact, the whole of the cloth covering her right leg was simply gone. And behind her was…

"Sister Nabooru!!" Ubella jumped into the arms of the older woman. Though all Gerudo shared a red shade of hair, Ubella and Nabooru shared the same dark plumb red hair. Colin stood up and faced the six women behind him. Nabooru hugged her younger sibling and faced Colin.

"I think you should be giving Sister Anna her sword back, young man," Nabooru said sternly. Colin grew red in the face and looked at the floor. Slowly, Colin fumbled with the scimitar until he had it in his hands. He walked up to the Gerudo lady who had only one sword attached to her hip and handed the hilt to her.

"Sister Ubella," said Nabooru, "you too. Sister Brea got those swords from her mother as a gift you know."

"Oh," said Ubella excitedly, "yes, here you go." Ubella quickly handed the two scimitars she was holding to the Gerudo who didn't have any swords at all.

"Okay, now Sister Anna is going to take you two back to the entrance-"

"What?!" shouted Ubella.

"-where she will teleport you to safety."

"But Sister-"

Nabooru raised a hand into the air, quieting Ubella. "Hear my will, Little Sister. I would not have you rush into danger if there was anything that I could do to stop it. Now you will obey, won't you Sister Ubella?"

Ubella twisted her mouth up and wringed her hands, but she nodded all the same. Colin followed Ubella as Anna led them from the room. When the door shut closed, Natalina turned to Nabooru.

"I didn't expect Twinrova to show up," she said. "Do you think we can still finish this part of the Princess' plan in time?"

Nabooru nodded. "With any luck. We were already supposed to be in the Forest Temple by now with the Angel. Hopefully, we can rescue the Angel before those two witches can do anything to her."

"Why do we need the Angel anyway?" asked Brea.

"According to the Forest Sage," explained Nabooru, "we'll need this Angel to open a portal to where Princess Zelda is. We need the Princess to stop the weakening of the seal on the Sacred Realm. Ever since she disappeared, the seal has begun to weaken gradually.

"Couldn't the seven sages simply come together again like last time, but before the King of Evil breaks free?" asked Lucia.

"It's not that simple," said Nabooru as she walked up to the wooden door Colin and Ubella were examining earlier. "Princess Zelda and Tetra are twins. Because of that, they share the inherited powers of the Sage of Time. Without Zelda, there's no strengthening the seal."

"But that's not all of Tetra's plan," said Natalina. "At least, she said there was more to it than that, but she never explained it to me."

"She hasn't explained it to anyone," said Nabooru. She placed her palm on the wooden door and concentrated. Magic flowed from her core into her shoulders, along her arms, and into the door. The mechanism holding the door down inside of the wall clicked loudly. Then the door began to rise. "And it's that fact that has all of us Sages worried. We don't like just sitting by while darkness and chaos roams the lands. The Sage's council is taking a big risk, but the end result could possibly seal the Sacred Realm for all eternity. Ganon would never again haunt our children."

"So…" said Natalina as she strolled through the now open door. She glanced about and frowned at the dust everywhere inside of the outer Sanctum. "Let's make sure to not screw this up. Who knows what could go wrong…"

* * *

- - - Hyrule/Hyrule Castle Town - - -

It was all going wrong. The Baron, the council, the whole of Hyrule! Everything was falling into ruin around her and there was practically nothing she could do. This wasn't part of her plan.

Natalina was supposed to take the Angel to see Nabooru, who would then escort her to the Forest Temple. There, the Sages would meet and cast a spell that would open a portal to the Angel's home world. They'd go in, find Zelda, bring her back, and go about fixing up the seal on the Sacred Realm.

Once that was done, and the King of Evil was assuredly contained, they'd use the combined might of the Seven Sages to empower an army to repel the angelic invaders. Once that was done, they'd use the Sage's staff to separate the Sacred Realm from Hyrule so that Ganon would never again have any way of entering Hyrule. She already had one of the two pieces of the staff. The last one was thought lost until the Twilight Invasion two generations ago, when it turned up and was now being safe guarded by the remaining Sheikah.

That was how it was supposed to have gone. Now Shix, her only contact with the Sheikah, was missing, the Angel that she sent to Nabooru was kidnapped, the Angels were killing and kidnapping any and all people that might have taken up arms to protect the lands, the Baron was slowly sucking up power from the Council, and she was now under house arrest due to her 'involvement' in the Angel's escape. The fact that the evidence pointed to the Baron didn't mean a thing because he saw the Princess' 'Gerudo friends' helping the Angel and her cohorts escape. Her plan had all but failed.

At one time, she felt that she could trust the Baron because he seemed set on gearing up for a war with the Angels. Originally, before she learned from the Angel that her sister was sill alive and that the seal on the Sacred Realm was failing, she planned on doing what any self respecting leader would do when under attack. Attack back. But the possibility of gaining her sister back and stopping all of this madness before there was any bloodshed was too tempting an offer to refuse.

So she convinced the Sages to help her retrieve her sister. Her sister's mentor, Impa, vouched for the plan. A plan was then come up with on the fly to free the Angel and her friends from the Castle prison and get her help to find her sister. That was when the Baron's actions started to become rather erratic. Tetra knew that he was the one responsible for setting the Angel and her friends free before Natalina could even get to them. He killed one of the soldiers loyal to her and made the whole thing out to be her fault.

At first he seemed happy to just let the country walk down the road of war. As soon as the Angel arrived though, something changed. Before he always supported her and her actions. Now he was practically taking over the throne. It was almost as if the Baron didn't want to avoid bloodshed.

She stood at her balcony, fully knowing that the Baron had a guard watching her every move. She told Shix she would wait for him to return from the hidden Sheikah village for two days. It was a half day journey, he said. Something must have happened to him to slow him down or worse.

Tetra turned around and set her jaw. It was go time. Two days had passed and no one had returned. If all else failed, use a sword, or so the Gerudo say, and she was going to get some answers from that blowhard of a Baron one way or another. Thus, Tetra opened her armoire and pulled out her custom made battle suit. It was really just a form fitting piece of cloth and leather over coat that tied together around each leg and arm. It even came with a hood.

Over the battle suit, Tetra fastened a long cape that draped down to her feet, but didn't manage to get under foot while walking. Satisfied that she was ready, and that all the knives and other weapons she had stored in the cape were still there, Tetra walked toward the door. Before she opened the ornately carved wooden door, the Princess pulled the twin Katana swords down from the wall and tied them to the belt around her waist, which was made specifically for these swords. One on each side.

Satisfied that she was ready, the Princess knocked on the door and waited. She knew that one of the Baron's men was standing out there. Impatiently, she knocked on the door again. She didn't have long to wait after that, for several seconds later, the door knob started turning.

Tetra took a step back and reached for a small pouch attached to her cape. When the guard's face appeared, she flung the leather pouch at the man's face. Pink dust filled the air around his head and shortly thereafter, the guard slumped to the floor, snoring loudly.

"Too easy," Tetra murmured. The Princess grabbed the snoring soldier and dragged him into her room. She made sure that her closed door looked as unsuspecting as possible.

It didn't take long for her to sneak past the guards patrolling the castle. Fortunately for her, it was completely dark out and the castle halls were nearly pitch black. She stopped just outside the entrance to the North Tower Stair. At the top of the northern tower was the Baron's private chambers.

After several minutes of waiting though, Tetra couldn't find a way through the patrols guarding the base of the tower. That meant it was time for plan B.

Tetra climbed up to a window and pulled a pair of grip gloves from her cape. Once they were on securely, she leaned out the window and grabbed onto the vines growing there. Praise to the Gods whoever thought of planting wall crawling vines outside of the castle, she thought.

For several minutes, the Princess concentrated on climbing the vines that crawled up the face of the seven story northern tower. The thick and leafy plant came to an end far too quickly though, and Tetra found herself hanging halfway up the northern towers' outside wall.

While keeping a firm grip on the vines, Tetra glanced left and right. She noticed a small window about a foot from the where the vines ended, but it was within easy jumping distance. She'd just have to time it right.

Taking a deep breath, Tetra made her way to the closest point she could get to the window. She closed her eyes and visualized the jump. Before she could have any second thoughts, she calmed her nerves and leaped.

Had she any doubts before she leaped, they were proven defunct when she easily grabbed firmly onto the window sill with both hands. With a heave, Tetra pulled herself up and sat on the sill. While she caught her breath and let the adrenalin flow from her system, she looked into the window and noted that it was the Baron's study. Careful to stay as quiet as she could, she pushed on the glass window and stepped inside.

"So the Princess has finally come to see me."

Tetra's eyes flew open wide. She quickly dropped to the ground and rolled a good three feet. When she came back up, one of her katanas was in her hands pointed in the general direction of the Baron's voice.

"Baron," Tetra said, her voice wavering slightly in the cold night air, "show yourself."

Baron Barker emerged from the shadows, from the only corner of the room that she was unable to see from the window. Behind him were two of his soldiers. In their hands was a chained up and beaten up Shix.

"Shix!" Tetra started forward, but both guards holding the Sheikah lowered their spear points toward her.

"Hahaha," laughed the Baron, "now I see. You were involved in this little miscreant's ring of spies. That's too bad, I guess we'll just have to off your head to the people and show them what it means when someone of stature doesn't work for the people."

Tetra's face wrinkled up in fury. "You!" she spat. "Why you! You're the one not working for the people. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you worked for the King of Evil himself."

"Oh, ho, what charges are these," laughed the Baron. "You'd do well to keep your tongue in check, or else it will be cut out. Not that it will matter for long, seeing as you'll both be dead soon, for High Treason."

Tetra unsheathed her second Katana and leveled a glare that could shatter bones at the Baron. The large fat man didn't flinch. He only grinned all the more.

"I see," he said, "you're planning on fighting your way out of here. No doubt you hoped to save this whelp and escape with them both to some hiding place out in the Lost Woods." Tetra's glare faltered for a second. Had the Baron tortured information from Shix?

"I can see you're confused," laughed the Baron. "I suppose there's no need for any more of this charade anymore then. Look." The Baron leaned forward and pulled something underneath his desk. As the center of the desk pulled back to reveal a glass orb the Baron said, "You were right, Princess. I suppose now that you've figured it out, you're of no use to me anymore. Though, perhaps before I kill you, I can make use of your death."

"What are you talking about, you snake," hissed Tetra.

The desk finished its transformation and the glass orb began giving off a foul and dark light, full of the red hues of fire and cold glowing glare of the King of Evil himself. Tetra nearly dropped her swords as she back into the arms of a pair of guards she never noticed. The guards wrenched the blades from her hands and clamped iron cuffs onto her wrists behind her back.

"What a foolish Princess," chuckled the Baron darkly.

Then the image of Ganon moved and his large yellow tusks came into view. His foul breath caused the image to fog for a moment, as if there were but a glass screen between the two worlds. Then he spoke. "Did you really think you and your feeble Sages could defeat me?" grunted the huge pig head. "I have been waiting, and planning, and waiting for this day. The day when I am set free! Haahahahahaha!"

* * *

- - - Hyrule/Desert Colossus - - -

Ubella was fuming. She wanted to help, badly. The stinking Hylian, Colin, wasn't helping either since he looked relieved to be free of having to save Colette and the others. Didn't that boy have any self respect or honor?!

"What's wrong with you?" Ubella whispered tersely. "Don't you want to help at all?"

Colin looked at Ubella hurt and confused at the same time. "I want to help," he replied, "but what can I do? I can't use a sword! And… we should just leave it to that one lady. She knew what she was doing!"

"Is that how all you Hylians think?" asked Ubella incredulously. "You stinkin whiners always leave it up to someone else, is that it? Maybe that's why the King of Evil is always killing you guys, cause not one of you lifts a finger to stop him!"

"We do to!" Colin nearly shouted. He stopped himself and glanced at Anna leading them back to the entrance. "We fight back! The Hero is always there to defeat the King of Evil!"

"Where is he now?" asked Ubella tauntingly. "I don't see him? And that doesn't disprove what I said, you Hylians whine about things till someone else gets it done. All you do anymore if danger comes knocking is sit there and wonder where your stinkin Hero is! Well not me and not the Gerudo. We don't need any stinkin Hero!"

"Take that back," Colin shouted, no longer caring about who heard him. "The Hero's are all great men! They always win against Evil and they don't wait for someone else to do their work."

"I'm not talking about the Heros," Ubella shouted back, "I'm talking about you stupid Hylians that sit there _always_ waiting for some badass Hero to come in and save the day! When are you going to take your destiny into your own hands, stupid Hylian?!"

"Oh yeah," shouted Colin. He turned forward and tackled the unsuspecting Anna. Before she could stop him, Colin pulled one of her swords free, turned and ran back the other direction. "I'll show you," he shouted over his shoulder. "We Hylians are better than that!"

Ubella quickly took Anna's second sword and dashed after Colin. "Not without me you aren't!" she shouted back.

Anna was swearing as she back flipped onto her feet. After several more swear words and stretching the pain out of her back from Colin's blow, she took off after the two errant youths.

* * *

- - - Hyrule/Desert Colossus (Inner Sanctum) - - -

"Ke ke ke ke ke ke!" Koume swooped down to the center of the room, taking up a position floating directly above Colette, who was still lying on top of the surface of a giant mirror. "It's only a matter of time now, until our son arrives. Ke ke ke ke!"

Colette winced at the horridly butchered form of laughter. The cackling was so bad that Koume began to choke. As she got over her ailment, Kotake swooped down into the room, she too was cackling.

"In several minutes our Lord Ganon will arrive back into the world of his birth, free of his millennia long prison in the Sacred Realm." Kotake cackled loudly again, sending involuntary shivers down Colette's spine. "It will be a day long remembered as the day the world was reborn and knew the terror of its rightful lord and master!"

"Not if we have anything to say about it!" Koume and Kotake ceased their cackling and turned their booms to face the four Gerudo that appeared on top of the giant altar.

"Oh my Din…" gasped one of the women, "That can't be… the Twilight Mirror?!"

"Don't be so surprised," cackled Kotake. "It has long been said amongst the Gerudo that the Twilight will rise again from our bosom. This Mirror, the Mirror of Dawn, was buried under the sands of the Desert. The ancients considered it an insurance policy in case someone really did manage to destroy the Mirror of Dusk. It wasn't a popular mirror, to say the least."

"Regardless of what it is," said Nabooru, "we can't allow you to use that Mirror, nor can we allow the escape of the King of Evil! Ladies, you know the plan, execute."

"Not so fast Spirit Sage," cackled Koume. "First you have to play with our toys!"

Two clouds of dust rose from the floor in front of the women. They raised their hands to shield their eyes from the localized sand storm. When it was over several moments later, two Iron Knuckles were standing in front of them. "Consider this _our_ insurance policy," cackled Kotake.

Colette watched the Gerudo engage the two Iron Knuckles. The four of them were moving pretty fast, and avoiding a lot of the slower, more powerful hits from the Knuckles. Slowly but surely, the iron armor began falling off. She was about to shout some of the more colorful words Lloyd used when he hurt himself in crafts class (which Professor Raine said never to ever use again) as encouragements, when she felt a sudden suction from the Mirror.

The surface of the glass lit up, runes of light going this way and that until a giant circular patter covering the entire mirror was lit up and shining behind Colette. The feeling of being drained wasn't so bad, she thought. All she had to do was grit her teeth and-

"Oh my Goddess," she whispered, her eyes going wide. She opened her mouth and, "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

* * *

- - - Hyrule/Hyrule Castle Town - - -

Baron Barker let his feet fall heavily onto the floor as he strutted into the packed Council Chamber. Every member of the council was present as well as every member of the upper and middle class that his men could fit into the room. He smiled as he walked up to the chair reserved formerly for Princess Tetra and sat down. Some of the crowd murmured but the councilors remained quiet. Several of them glared at him, while the others looked at him expectantly. He replied to all of that with his best, widest, and slimiest of grins.

"Fellow Hylians," he began, "Councilors, I have called you here for news of great and dire consequence. Not one hour ago, I was attacked. I was attacked by none other than the cancer of our society. A Ganon Worshiper!" The crowed erupted in loud speculation while several of the Councilors stood up, demanding answers.

"Calm yourselves, please," said the Baron placatingly. "As you can see, I'm still here and now that I have found this cancer upon our holy nation, we may finally strike back at the King of Evil and the Angels. For she was working with both sides see. And it wasn't just her. It was the Sheikah as well!" The crowds erupted again, raging and roaring, demanding answers, whispering about rumors, playing telephone with the false facts.

"Who do you think he's talking about?"

"I demand to know who supposedly attacked you!"

"I wonder if it was the Princess. Wasn't she helping the Angel escape?"

"I want proof that the Sheikah are involved!"

"What proof do you have?"

"Why would the Princess attack the Baron? He's only trying to help everyone!"

"I heard it was cause she was jealous."

"No, it was because the Baron tried to marry her!"

"No, it was because the Baron refused to marry her and she was jealous of another woman!"

"Baron Barker," said Andrea Agdy loudly, over the crowd. The began to quiet down as she continued speaking. "I would be interested to know who exactly the one who attacked you was and how you came to these outlandish conclusions about this nation's state of affairs? It was my impression, from your own testimony, that we hadn't attacked the Angels because they outnumber us ten to one we were simply building our forces up, or was that a lie? And of the Sheikah, they've been our staunchest of allies in all the years past that anyone can remember. For what reason would they aid our foes?" Andrea sat down, cringing as the Baron stood up and smiled his slimy grin again.

"I thank Councilor Agdy for her attention to detail," said Barker, "indeed, we didn't attack the Angels right away because they did outnumber us. And had this vagrant continue to interfere with Hylian affairs, we would never have built up an army ever. Now that we have _her_ we can finally focus on fighting the real enemy, the Angelic armies." The Baron stood and walked to the center of the room, in the center of the ring of councilors. "And as for proof of the Sheikah having aided our enemies… well… why don't I show you." The Baron swept his hands toward the door he entered from and shouted, "Bring in the Traitor and the Sheikah."

The clinking of the chains were heard before they were seen. Tetra walked in with her head held high, her arms held behind her by iron braces. Many in the crowd gasped, not in surprise, but excitement. Tetra and Shix were marched to the center of the room, right in front of Barker.

"As many of you suspected," stated Barker, "the one responsible for our maladies is the only living member of the Royal family, Princess Tetra de Hyrule." The crowd behind the councilors started whispering again, but the Baron didn't give them a chance to get any louder again, continuing his accusations. "The man standing next to her is a Sheikah. He has been her contact to the rest of the Sheikah tribe and their hidden village. My men intercepted him on his way back yesterday, on his possession was this note," the Baron pulled out a piece of parchment.

"That's forged," Tetra whispered to herself.

"Don't worry," Shix said quietly, "They're aware and are coming."

"Like that's any kind of consolation right now," Tetra bit out.

"The note reads as follows," announced the Baron, "The council of the Sheikah Tribe have unanimously decided agree with the Princess of Hyrule, Tetra de Hyrule, that the nation of Hyrule is without a doubt, doomed. We, the Sheikah people, agree and support the Princess and her alegience to outside powers."

"Councilor Barker," shouted Ehk, the Zora representative, "It is unthinkable that the Royal Family of Hyrule would ever align themselves with the powers of Darkness!"

"Quite right," answered Barker smoothly, "and I was just as taken aback about this turn of events as you are now. How could our only remaining heir to the throne betray us like this?"

"What proof do you have of this alliance," asked Ehk. Barker grinned again, which nearly made Tetra throw up.

"Bring in the table," he shouted. Four more guards shuffled into the room, carrying the table with the crystal ball attached to it into the room. After they put it down, the guards left. "This," said Barker, "is a table like any other in the castle correct?" The Baron walked over to the table and rested his hand upon its surface.

"Unlike other tables though, this one obviously has a crystal ball attached to it. When I was confronted by the Princess as she attempted to assassinate me, I asked her who she was working for, why she was doing it, and once I and my men had subdued her, she told us, look in the table. We searched her room and eventually one of my men discovered a hidden cache in this table. When pulled this crystal ball appeared from inside the table. But it was within this crystal ball that I found the foul King of Evil himself, Ganon!"

The room erupted. Councilors were up and screaming. The gathered crowds were screaming and shouting. There were cries for peace, cries for order, and cries for the intercession of the Goddesses. But above all that was a cry for the death of the traitor. Tetra swallowed the bile built up in her throat.

How could this have happened? How could one evil man turn an entire nation on its head and make the weak beg for their own destruction? The rich beg for their own damnation? The righteous demand injustice. Where did she go wrong?

There was a sudden 'wumping' sound and the entire room fell silent, dead as a door nail. The Baron knew who was behind him. But he acted surprised nonetheless when he turned to find Shadow Sage Impa and a short green haired girl.

"That's quite enough, Barker," said Impa. "I thought you'd have been banished after your little act with Princess Zelda three years back, but I was mistaken."

"Why if it isn't the Sage of Shadows, Impa," said Barker. "I am saddened to hear that you haven't gotten over… old grudges. You've come just in time. I was just about to execute this traitor to Hyrule." Barker walked to the guards standing behind Tetra and unsheathed one of her katanas. He looked down at Tetra and grinned evilly, a grin that only she was able to see. "Goodbye, Tetra, last of the Royal family of Hyrule." Barker raised the katana into the air and swung down.

His large lard filled, armored body hit the ground before he was even able to swing the blade an inch. The sword flew from his hand and clattered to the floor of the chamber. The little green haired girl cracking her neck as if she were preparing for an all out fight. Impa was just finished popping each of the four guards in the back of the neck and began to unchain Shix and Tetra.

"What are you doing," Barker shouted, faking distress. "Who're you to free these traitors? They deserve to be executed as soon as possible!"

"Shut up, Barker," said the little girl. "I may be a small Kokiri, but I've had over twelve hundred years to train in the arts of war." She looked up and addressed the crowd and the council. "Some of you may know of my work, I've been called the Forest Guardian by travelers. I am also the Sage of the Forest, Saria. This man is evil. He works only for himself and his lord and master, the great King of Evil that I myself helped to seal inside of the Sacred Realm so long ago with the help of the Hero of Time. What this fool doesn't want you to know is that the seal on the Sacred Realm is weakening. He's tricked all of you into wanting the death of the only remaining Sage of Time, without whom, we'd never be able to repair the Seal. The Sage of Time is none other than Princess Tetra."

The crowd began whispering and murmuring. Many of the Councilors were nodding their heads while others had their mouths twisted in fury. Baron Barker slowly stood up and cracked a grin.

"Do you honestly want us to believe that you're the Sage of the Forest from over twelve hundred years ago?" he asked incredulously.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

The scream of a thousand heartaches pierced the air. It was the scream lovers gave when their loved ones died in their arms. It was the anguish mothers cried out when their children were presented to them, dead. It was the scream of a million tortured souls from the depths of the underworld.

The scream was so loud that everyone in the room fell to the ground, covering their ears, which were bleeding. Everyone but the Baron. He stood up, grinning like a fool.

"You lose," he laughed. Somehow his voice carried over the scream. Several windows shattered. "I stalled you stupid people long enough. This scream signifies the arrival of my master, your master, the Lord and Master of all things, Lord Ganondorf Dragmire! I'll see you all later, slaves."

Barker clasped his hands together. Dark smoke erupted form his feet, enveloping his large, fat body. When the smoke dissipated, he was gone. Gradually, the scream died down until there it was gone completely. But everyone who heard the scream would never forget it. The despair and anguish carried along its wavelengths had made its mark, just as Ganon intended.

"Now what?" someone in the crowd cried.

"Ganon has escaped!"

"We're all doomed!"

"Aaaah!"

"No!" shouted Tetra. She couldn't let the people give in. Somehow, she had to make them fight the despair, the feeling of certain doom. She picked up her sword and raised it above her head. "Now, we fight! We fight for our lives! We fight for our freedom! We will not give up because the consequences would mean our children would be subject to eternal slavery. Generations ago, it was your young men, knights of the land, that drove back Ganon's dark armies during the Imprisoning war. If we could do it then, then we can do it now!" Tetra jumped onto her chair. "Let no man, woman, or child despair, for we Hylians will never give into the Darkness. Now let me ask you, can we do this?"

For a moment, the entire room was silent. Then one by one, everyone in the room stood up and started shouting 'Yes!' over and over. Eventually the chant grew to such intensity that the people below the chamber in Hyrule town proper, who were running around blindly in their panic stopped to listen. They picked up on the undercurrent of the chant.

"What was that Hyrule," Tetra shouted as loudly as she could. "Did you say we can do this?"

"Yes" they shouted back, "Yes we can!"

* * *

Whooo! How was that? I know, I know, I borrowed Barrack Obama's chant, but I couldn't help it. It's just so catchy and rebellious. That's the kind of thing one shouts into the dark at night just to prove that you can… Anyway, this chapter's been a long time coming. Some out there will appreciate this chapter more than others, but over all, I like this chapter, I really do. I wonder what's going on with Colette though…

**Link**: "That mirror is sucking her magic out of her, that's what."

Well, yeah, that much is obvious. Anyway, that's the end of this chapter. I hope to finish up this bit of the Hyrule story soon, but the next chapter goes back to Sylvarant. Carried along the screams of the weak…

**Link**: "What? What's that mean?"

Oh… err, nothing. Just thinking about the next chapter. Anyway, please, review.

**Link**: "And thanks for reading!"


	27. The Death of Lloyd Irving

Not much to say here. I'm attempting to speed up my writing and cut out any mindless ramblings of the characters. Please, bear with me as I go through this process. That said, time to thank the reviewers!

**Link**: "The reviewers this time are **_Jenova Remnant AKA Fishie_**_, _**_Canada Cowboy_**_, _**_Poet Bucky_**_, **Toyax**, **freakyanimegal456**, **Amekoryuu **_(_x2_), _**mandrakefunnyjuice**, **Smunchlax**, _and **_Rini __Tsukino_**_. _Thanks a lot."

Yep, thanks. And I would like to point out that **Midna **appears now. And yes, its the same Midna from Twilight Princess. How's that if this story hasn't been connected with any other Zelda game yet? Well, I'm sure it will be explained eventually.

**Link**: "I.K.A. Valian does not own Tales of Symphonia or The Legend of Zelda."

* * *

- - - **Hyrule/Desert Colossus** - - -

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

The scream filled the entire sanctum and echoed out into the distance. It was a horrid scream to hear in Hyrule Castle Town. It was physically debilitating to hear at ground zero though. Everyone in the Inner Sanctum fell to their knees, holding their ears and shivering as their bodies tried to cope with the horrid sound that was vibrating through them. Twinrova though seemed to enjoy the sound immensely.

The mirror beneath Colette began shining a beam of light past the ex-Chosen. It projected out into the air until it reached about the height of a two story house. The image floating in the air was a projection of the rune circles imprinted on the mirror's surface. At the center of the circles was a picture of the Triforce. The Triforce in the air spun and pulled backwards, turning the projected image into a three dimensional hole. On the other end was a dark void.

A large fist suddenly materialized. It was followed by a huge arm, and then a huge shoulder, and so on until the entire top half of Ganon, King of Evil had materialized. The huge half formed pig's lips spread and he both grinned and breathed in deeply through his human head sized nostrils. Before he could completely materialize though, a huge hand that appeared to be formed of molten gold appeared and wrapped itself around the enormous pig's head.

The half of Ganon that had appeared began to dissolve back into the vortex of spinning light runes. Half a second went by before a person clothed entirely in black materialized and then flew across the giant room into the wall. Then Ganon's head reappeared and the rest of him quickly followed, little specks of white coming together to form his cloven feet.

When he was finished teleporting, the mirror immediately shut down, ending Colette's tortured screaming. Twinrova flew toward the giant pig standing in the middle of the giant altar and landed on the ground in front of him. There, they put their brooms on the floor in front of them and bowed their heads to the floor.

"Lord Ganon, our son, welcome home," they said in unison.

Ganon snorted and squealed so loudly that dust caked onto the ceiling from centuries past fell to the ground in great big chunks. One of the chunks barely missed Colin as he appeared at the edge of the altar behind Ganon. Shortly there after, Ubella pulled herself up.

They didn't notice the giant pig standing in front of them until both had taken several steps forward. The giant pig heard their small footsteps and craned his head to the side to see what was behind him. His glowing hate filled gaze would have frozen them on the spot if they hadn't been frozen there already by his presence alone. Ganon grinned a toothy grin.

"What do we have here," he rumbled. The Twinrova sisters looked up and scowled.

"Nothing but worms," spat Koume. "Crush them if you like, my Lord. They are nothing."

"Hmph." Ganon turned around and raised his hands into the air. A ball of black energy appeared above his short and muscular outstretched hands. When Ganon dropped his hands, the ball of energy zoomed toward the two children. Before it could hit them, a glowing shield appeared around them and deflected the dark magic. The magic attack blew out a portion of the wall the size of Ganon himself. In front of the two stunned children appeared a tall, slender, orange haired woman with pale skin and skimpy black garments barely covering her body.

"I've had enough of your meddling, Ganon," she said defiantly.

"My meddling!" The enormous pig laughed so heartily more dust chunks fell to the floor. "My dear Midna, since when was I meddling in your affairs. No, you've been a pain in my side ever since the Twilight Realm became involved at all. Not that it matters, you're old magic is much weaker than it used to be in its prime and never will be a match for me, not with the Triforce at my command."

Ganon held out his stubby arm and a long two pronged fork as tall as he was appeared in it. He swung it around his head several times. Small balls of fire appeared all around Ganon's body, creating a rotating barrier of sorts. The balls turned into enormous flaming bird, composed entirely of fire and magic, and exploded outwards.

Midna spun around and pointed at Colin and Ubella. The two immediately shattered into hundreds of Twili particles which disappeared into the ceiling. Just as the flaming birds slammed into her, Midna's whole body slipped into a shadow on the floor.

Her shadow puddle dashed through Ganon's legs, between Koume and Kotake, and stopped in front of the mirror and Colette. There, Midna hopped back up and out of the shadow puddle. She looked thoughtfully at the mirror and Colette hanging from chains on top of its surface. She supported her head in her left hand as she gazed at Colette and tapped her temple lightly, insolently ignoring the King of Evil walking up behind her.

"So, that's how you got it to work. A being compose entirely of Light Magic, incredible. Oh well, not like you'll be needing that anymore." Midna pointed at Colette and the mirror. Both exploded into Twili particles and warped from the room.

Ganon growled and rushed forward. He stabbed his spear into the space Midna was standing several seconds before. But she was already dashing across the room in her shadow puddle, popping up every so often to point at one of the unconscious Gerudo. Each time, Ganon just barely reached her before she fled in a shadow puddle.

Because of Colette's scream, the remaining armor fell from Rath and Rutina and freed them from the spell that Twinrova cast upon them. Midna zapped them too. When Anna poked her head over the edge of the altar to see what happened to the two children, Midna popped out of her shadow right next to her and zapped her right on the nose.

"Stop her!" bellowed Ganon. He stomped on the floor and would have sent Midna spiraling into the air, except she stopped herself midair and laughed melodically at Ganon and the two witches.

"You are a fool, Midna," said Ganon, switching tactics. "Do you really think that your precious Twilight Realm is safe from my armies? Even now, they are invading and imprisoning your people." Ganon held a hand up in front of Twinrova, holding them and their charged up spells just over his shoulder. They would wait for his signal.

"What say you, work with me and eliminate the wretches in this land that caused your people to suffer so when they banished my phantom to your Realm. Had they not done so, you wouldn't even be here, and Zant would never have risen to power. Your people wouldn't be-"

"Oh stuff it, Ganon," said Midna. She landed on the floor directly in front of him and stared right up at him, almost as if daring the King of Evil to smite her. All he had to do was step on her and she'd die. But he didn't do anything. His feet were stuck to the floor by two shadow puddles.

Midna smirked up at his giant, ugly, piggy face. "Do you honestly think that I'd believe that all the bad things that happened to _my_ people was the fault of these Hylians? It was you're meddling that kept your phantom alive when you piped your own power into him. And, just like every other time, you were defeated."

Midna jumped into the air and floated backwards from Ganon, giggling. He growled and tapped his spear on the ground. The shadow puddles around his feet were immediately dispelled and he jumped forward. Midna laughed as her own body disintegrated into millions of Twili particles and she teleported from the Inner Sanctum.

"Lord…" started Koume.

"It doesn't matter," he said. He turned with a grin on his face and laughed forcefully. "Actually, I expected her to do some more damage than this. Her powers must have withered since last we met. No matter, let us go, Mothers."

"Yes my son," Koume and Kotake said in unison. As one, the two witches and Ganon disappeared from the altar at the center of the Desert Colossus.

* * *

- - - **Sylvarant/Asgard Base** - - -

"No, you got it all wrong," said Zelos. He pointed at the screen in front of Raine's face and said, "The power conduit isn't going toward the reactor, that one's going away, and the power reading is one hundred and fifty Kilowatts. Really, it's a simple equation."

Raine studied the screen and nodded. "I didn't realize the _Great Zelos Wilder_ was so good at anything but flirting with women and being a loudmouth."

Zelos rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it's hard being me." He smiled at Raine. "But I do have my moments."

Raine shook her head and went back to trying to figure out how to open the doors Alpha-x 3 through Alpha-x 5. She had finally figured out where the people of Asgard were being kept, but now she couldn't get the doors to open. The computer kept saying that there was insufficient power. Then Zelos suggested rerouting power from other sectors and started to help her translate all the technical lingo written all over the schematics for the base.

"Um…" the two at the work station looked at Zelda. "I feel useless. Isn't there _something_ I can do?"

"Here," Zelos picked up Kratos' communicator and tossed it into the air. Zelda caught it easily and looked at it. "Try telling that Yuan guy everything we learned. See if he can get some guys over here to take care of this place. Who knows, if they're teleporter is still out of whack then they can use this one." Zelos pointed at the teleporter Lloyd and the others used hours earlier.

"Right," said Zelda. Zelos and Raine went back to work, skimming through floor plans and schematics, tracing each power line. Zelda looked down at the small, flat box in her hands. There was a button on one side. Never in her life had she ever seen something like this. Possibly the most advanced piece of technology she'd ever seen was a steam engine. Zelda took a deep breath, forcing the apprehension in the pit of her stomach to dissipate. Then she pressed the button to speak.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

* * *

- - - **Sylvarant/Triet Desert Base **- - -

Yuan entered his office and walked briskly to his desk. Even his enhanced Angelic strength was strained by 84 hours straight of explaining over and over and over again the same story to every single person who asked. Granted, he knew it needed to be done, which was why he had some of his men going around now, setting up information centers in the hanger for anyone and everyone to ask questions and get answers. When he was sure his men would be alright, he headed back to his office to rest a little while he read damage reports and contemplated a plan to retrieve Kratos and his team.

Yuan turned on his computer and was mildly surprised when he found the coded message Kratos sent to him. He enjoyed surprises. They happened so rarely to him anymore.

Yuan accessed the message and read it aloud. "Kvar moved to Asgard. It appears like he's in Balacruf for something related to that Black Triangle you found. I believe investigating the other Elemental seals would be a wise course of action." Yuan reread the message once more. Then he brought his communications unit to his mouth and pressed the button. "Botta, report."

"Sir," Botta's voice replied from the com unit, "the Teleporter is nearly finished being repaired. The engineers estimate it will work for a limited amount of time before the bypass around the main power conduits are overloads itself."

Yuan waited several seconds and then replied. "Send two teams out, one to check the Water Seal and one to the Tower of Mana. Have them look for evidence of Desians from the entrance to the Seal rooms."

"On it sir," replied Botta. "If you don't mind me asking, why are we wasting time sending troops to places Kratos is going to be when we need them out rescuing villagers? Speaking of which, the temperature in the desert outside has risen to one hundred degrees since the sun reappeared after the last earthquake. Several teams have come back with severely dehydrated civilians and our supplies of water and burn remedies are running low."

"Very well," said Yuan. "We're sending these men to the seal to make sure the Pact retrievals go as fast as possible. This process is taking too long as it is. We only have eight days left before the worlds fly apart and so far Kratos has only retrieved one pact." Yuan thought for a moment and then said, "Contact Kratos. See what's taking him so long at the Wind Seal. Tell him we can't wait more than twelve hours before we send another team to speed up the process." Yuan waited for Botta to acknowledge when a sudden wave of energy passed through him.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

* * *

- - - **Sylvarant/Balacruf Mausoleum** (Lloyd) - - -

The entire super structure of the Balacruf Mausoleum shuddered violently as Kvar said, "Lloyd, what do the little birds sing when they blow up in the volcano?"

Lloyd winced and clutched his head. Kvar watched the small silver haired traitor to his race ask Kratos something. As the younger boy was doing so, Lloyd straightened up and leaped forward. Before the little kid knew what was happening, Lloyd had launched him with a vicious uppercut.

"Lloyd," Kratos said calmly. He stared into the unseeing, unresponsive eyes of his son. "Lloyd, snap out of it!"

"It's no use," said Kvar haughtily. "The second phase of the Goddess Project turns all its subjects into permanently mind controlled and completely obedient, soldiers. There's nothing short of a nuclear blast that can free his mind now. Not even that silly little trick with Efreet will work this time."

"What do we do, Kratos?" asked Sheena. She had her back to the mercenary with her knees bent, ready to attack at a moments notice. She eyed the Desians and their machine guns, committing all openings she could spot to memory. The ground shook again, just as violently as before. "They outnumber us six to one. Seven if you include Lloyd and Kvar."

Kratos hummed to himself as he calculated in his head. Their options boiled down to two, cut and run or attempt to finish their mission. Finally, he nodded and said quietly, "I will hold them all off while you summon Efreet. Order him to protect you while you form a pact with Sylph. Focus on that and that alone. Leave Kvar to me."

"Are yo-"

"Do it! Now!" Kratos leaped at Lloyd and back handed him across the face. The boy flew off into the distance, his twin sabers dropping to the floor. Kratos closed his eyes for three milliseconds, during which time Kvar's men opened fire.

Sheena had by this time bolted for the summoning altar. When she reached the two Desians blocking her path, she vaulted forward into a hand stand underneath their guns. Using he Exsphere enhanced strength, Sheena launched herself into the air, kicking both Desians in the head with her feet. She performed a flawless 720 degree mid-air summersault and landed running.

The ground shook again, still just as violently as before, though still not enough to knock anyone from their feet. Kratos' blue and violet wings sprouted from his shoulder blades after the three milliseconds he had his eyes closed. Before any of the bullets fired by the Desians could reach him, he rolled along the ground underneath their travel paths. The Desians, standing in a circle, began picking off their own guys.

Of the twelve men that first appeared, only five were left when they finally stopped shooting. By that time, Kratos was hovering above them with runes of white magic floating all around him. The angelic nature of the spell he was murmuring was not lost on Kvar, whom was running as fast as he could from his remaining men.

"Sacred Powers, cast your purifying light upon these corrupt souls. Rest in Peace, Sinners!" The runes of light disappeared from around Kratos. Clouds formed above in the too sunny sky. Breaks in the clouds revealed a light source other than the sun. "Judgment!"

The clouds broke and poured forth the wrath of the heavens. Beams of light fell like two ton weights and scoured the Desians, those both dead and alive, like a magnifying glass held to an anthill. When the spell was finished, nothing was left on the roof of the Mausoleum except a hovering Kratos, Lloyd, who was running toward the mercenary full tilt, Sheena, who just finished summoning Efreet, and Kvar. Genis was nowhere to be seen.

"So much for those pawns," uttered Kvar disinterestedly in reference to the twelve Desians who gave their life in service to him. He stood in his place just outside of Kratos' range, and watched Lloyd pick up his lost swords and then leap at Kratos.

Lloyd and Kratos started trading blows and an idea formed in his head. The ground shook again, this time a little bit more violently than before. Kvar had to crouch down a little to lower his center of gravity and keep from falling over. Lloyd and Kratos were two busy fighting to notice the shifty terrain. Sheena wobbled a little bit, but stayed standing as she started the incantation that would summon Sylph.

"I know just what to do," mused Kvar. "I'll use the son to finish the Angelus Project. Combined with the Goddess Project, I'll have the most powerful engine of war ever created at my beck and call. I'll be unstoppable. Hahahahahaha!"

"What?!" shouted Kratos. His Cruxis Crystal enhanced hearing became a liability, pulling his attention away from Lloyd. He hadn't been going all out against his son; he didn't want to kill him after all. He was simply looking for a way to disable him without doing too much damage. Simultaneously, feelings of dread and trepidation were fluttering through his being as he fought another one of his family members without trying to kill them.

The mercenary was just about to put Lloyd into a sleeper hold when he overheard Kvar's musings. His guard dropped for less than a second, but the mind controlled Lloyd saw the opportunity and struck, sinking one of his swords into Kratos' side. The blade erupted from Kratos' back and stabbed into the stone beneath them.

Lloyd stood up and flicked his other sword a few times as he walked around and prepared to cleave Kratos head from his body. Kratos attempted to pull the sword from his gut, but the ground started shaking again, making that task next to impossible. By the time he was able to grasp it, Lloyd's sword was already swinging downward.

"Good bye, Kratos," Kvar cried loathsomely, "you insufferable, pathetic excuse for a human."

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

The screams of a thousand anguished souls filled the air. Lloyd's hand froze, stopping his blade just as the edge of it cut into the skin on his father's neck. A line of blood dripped down from the cut, but Kratos ignored it, and the pain he was receiving from the scream that filled the air. The horrible sound had dropped even Kvar to his knees. Sheena too was on the ground, the Sylph and Efreet falling to the ground around her.

But Kratos' attention was on his son's face, where the muscles beneath Lloyd's face were twitching wildly. It looked like he was having a seizure; his eyes were blinking out of sink and randomly. His mouth was forming all kinds of shapes. His tongue flew about wildly within his mouth.

Muscles clenched tightly, Lloyd raised his arms into the air and loosed a scream that rivaled that of the one that brought on this state. His face muscles eventually settle on a fierce grimace of rage and strenuous concentration.

Even when the horrendous sound that caused all of this died down, Lloyd was still screaming. It went on until Lloyd's face suddenly went very pale and slack. Then he simply dropped to the floor like a rag doll.

"Lloyd…" Kratos looked from his son's body to the sword sticking out through his gut. With a grunt of effort and a burst of angelic strength, Kratos grabbed the sword and forcefully removed the blade from both his midsection and the floor at once. Blood erupted from his wound, but he ignored it, immediately scrambling to Lloyd's side.

"Lloyd," he said, "Lloyd answer me!"

"A pity," Kratos heard Kvar say behind him. "It appears that sound caused him to have an aneurism. He's bleeding to death inside his own brain. I guess I'll have to find a new subject to continue the Angelus project on."

"Kvar," Kratos rasped raggedly. He laid Lloyd's head down gently and grabbed the sword that nearly took his head off from his son's slack hand.

"I'm going to rip off your head and mount it on a pike!" Kratos shouted, spit flying from his lips. His boundless rage showed itself in both his wings, which now were glowing so brightly that it was impossible to look at them without wincing, and his eyes, from which any sane person would run screaming from.

Kratos took a step toward Kvar and faltered. He dropped to his knee and grabbed his wounded side. Pain had erupted from his wound, more than anticipated. The blood loss was also making him light headed. The sight of Kvar slowly making his way toward him blurred a little. The evil man's triumphant grin was only made all the more hard to see by the shaking ground.

"It looks like our little feud ends here," said Kvar, his voice shaking from the ground's vibrations. "As well as the Aurion line. Fare… well… What in blazes is causing all this shaking?!"

The ground began shaking more and more violently. The bricks in the center of the mausoleum roof began to shake loose and soon fell downward into the depths of the interior. The ceiling began bowing under its own weight as it lost support from below. An entire section of the room, the majority of its center, broke off and fell into the darkness below.

Everyone heard the roar of annoyance and the loud thump that emanated from the hole, as the pieces of falling roof finally landed on something. Several loud whooshing sounds, like that of a bat flapping its wings were then heard. Shortly after that, a long slender serpent with giant bat-like, membrane webbed wings erupted from the Mausoleum's interior, roaring as it went.

It took three full seconds for the long serpents tail to finally emerge from the darkness below. Just as the tip passed the edge, something large, and certainly man shaped, jumped from the tail and landed on top of the roof. He was tall, almost as tall as Kratos was. He wore a pastel green colored tunic over a white under shirt and white cloth pants. His white floppy hat, which Kratos though looked remarkably like a longer, larger version of Link's green one, flapped wildly in the wind. He held lightly in one hand what should have been a two handed long sword. The blade's shape was that of a double helix. One helix of the blade was light green, the other was white. The air around the blade was distorted, almost like heat was rising constantly around its edges.

Kratos eyed the newcomer and kept an eye on Kvar while in the back of his mind he started casting a healing spell on himself. Kvar, to Kratos' advantage, was watching the newcomer and the coil flying serpent with rapt attention. This distraction gave the mercenary enough time to heal his wound enough to stop the bleeding, though it did nothing for the light headedness he attained from already losing too much blood. He would have to compensate for the lack of balance with his wings, he thought.

"I wonder who that could be…" Kvar wondered aloud. "Oh well, this is my cue to leave." Kvar turned to face Kratos with a devious grin on his ugly mug. "We'll meet again."

"Kvar!" shouted Kratos as he dashed forward. His wings twitched to keep him balanced as he flew across the ten foot gap between them. But just as he reached the madman, Kvar pressed a glowing red button at the center of his belt. The device beeped once and then Kvar teleported away. "Kvar!!"

"ROAR!!"

The deafening cry of the serpent above snapped Kratos attention away from his lost prey. Behind him Sheena was just finalizing the details of the pact with Sylph. The three summon spirits handed the summoner a ring and then disappeared. Efreet soon disappeared as well.

The strange warrior pointed his double helix sword at the dragon in the sky as it dive-bombed straight toward him. For a moment, Kratos thought that the warrior would let the dragon run into him, but at the last second, the man jumped back and swung the blade three times in quick succession.

The wind around the blade slid from its surface and formed three projectiles. The wind blades sliced into the serpents face, cutting deep gashes in its cheek and forehead. The serpent veered away, crying out in pain.

The warrior ran around the hole in the roof, toward the spot where the serpent appeared to be descending toward. The two made contact and the warrior began slicing up the dragon's scaly head. After six or seven direct blows to the head, the great beast cried out and shoved the warrior back.

A buzzing white ball of light flew up to the serpent's head and started buzzing loudly in and around its face. The monster was distracted long enough for the warrior to get back to his feet. The warrior half disappeared as he seemed to use the wind to dash forward so fast that his form was almost impossible to follow.

The warrior delivered a final blow to serpent, driving his double helix sword directly into the serpents brain pan. The serpent's body writhed about for several seconds as remnant nerves slowly died out. Eventually though, it ceased to move and the warrior used his foot to pull his sword from the serpents skull.

Kratos turned from the battle not long after Kvar disappeared. His attention was on Lloyd. So as Sheena gasped when the warrior turned to face them, Kratos was in the middle of casting his third Healing Stream spell. Some color had returned to the boy's face, but not much. His breathing was slow and his heartbeat was irregular. Kratos didn't give up though, and cast a fourth Healing Stream spell on Lloyd

"What… is he," muttered Sheena. She was torn between the warrior approaching them and her concern for Lloyd. She knew there wasn't anything that she could do healing wise, so she was preparing herself to fight this warrior that appeared with the serpent. He stopped a short distance away from the three of them and reached up to his face. The ball of light that distracted the serpent appeared around the warriors head as he seemed to grab the edges of his cheeks and started pulling.

There was a suction sound as Link pulled the mask from his face and returned to his original form. Sheena frowned and kept her cards up, not sure if she should trust this amazing transformation.

"Stay back," she hollered at what she thought a perfect Link look-alike. She hadn't seen much of him in the Efreet Seal, but from what she could remember, this morphling looked just like him. "I don't know what you want, but I won't let you get any closer."

"Who are you?" asked Link. He took a step forward.

"I said stay back!" said Sheena. She threw a card at Link's feet and watched him jump back from the resulting explosion. "Don't come any closer."

"Lloyd!" Genis skid to a halt, out of breath, next to Lloyd as Kratos unleashed a sixth Healing Stream onto the boy. "Lloyd! Answer me! Lloyd!"

"I'm not going to lose you," grunted Kratos, "not again!" Sheena glanced warily to the side, knowing that Kratos was preparing a seventh Healing Stream onto Lloyd. Genis grabbed Lloyd's hand and squeezed it, barely feeling any life in his best friend's limb.

"Navi says she knows a way to save him," Link suddenly shouted. "Something about mind transfer… or something. She says she did it to herself once."

"What?" Sheena shouted back. "What are you talking about? Who's Navi?" Link pointed to the ball of light floating around his head.

"The fairy," he said impatiently. "She says to hurry because Lloyd's life force is fading."

"Kratos," Sheena said uncertainly. The mercenary cast another Healing Stream onto his son. The spells were beginning to have less and less effect.

He stared at Lloyd's face for two seconds before he turned and waved Link over. Navi raced ahead of the boy and dropped down onto Lloyd's face, landing squarely on his nose. Genis peered closely at the fairy, hoping the small thing could do what it said it could. He couldn't believe how useless he felt.

Navi walked about Lloyd's face for a moment. Then she looked up at Kratos and said, "Once this procedure is complete, he will reside within this body. It is a magical construct, so it will resemble the shape and form of the mind possessing it. Reversing this is next to impossible without a heavy duty magical catalyst."

"What's going to happen to you?" asked Link.

Navi shook her head sadly. She walked up onto Lloyd's forehead and stretched her arms out. Her glow became blindingly bright for several seconds. When the glow faded, Navi's glow had turned red, and Lloyd's eyes fluttered open.

"This body is going to die in fifteen seconds," Lloyd said. Kratos frowned and then nodded in understanding. He bent down and scooped up the red fairy that now slept. "I'm sorry Link," said Navi with Lloyd's lips. "It looks like I can't help you anymore. I'm happy though that I was able to save at least one life before I finally kicked the bucket."

Link wiped a tear that streaked down his cheek. "No, you can make it. I mean, you've been around for how long? If you can survive till now, you can survive this!"

Navi smiled sadly with Lloyd's mouth. "Be strong," she said though him. "You may not believe you're capable of doing what's needed. But… you can…"

Lloyd's head fell to the side and the last breath of life left his former body.

* * *

End.

**Link**: "What! The! Hell!"

**Lloyd**: "Who are you to kill me off? And what did you do to me? I'm a freaking fairy now!"

Yeah… so what? Fairies are cool… in a way. They can annoy the shit out of anything alive or undead. Even trees and rocks.

**Lloyd**: "… Really… Cool! This is going to be awesome!"

**Link**: "This is ridiculous. Now I have to have a red, annoying fairy buzzing around my head, bothering me?"

No… Raine can resurrect Lloyd's body with Boltzman's techniques just like any other dead person. Just so happens that the Tower of Mana is the next stop. Might as well save Undine and the Water Dungeon for last. Anyway, please review!

**Link**: "And thanks for reading!"

**Lloyd**: (_Buzzing around in a circle_.) "Wow, this is so awesome! I'm a fairy! I'm a fairy!"

… Isn't that Zelos' line?


	28. The End?

Thanks to **Amekoryuu**, **Jenova Remnant AKA Fishie**, **freakyanimegal456**, **NightmareSyndrom**, **Canada Cowboy**, **Pokemon35055**, **Toyax**(x2), **Poet Bucky**, **mandrakefunnyjuice**, **eliteforce**, **Rini Tsukino**, **WhiteFoxDemon **(Welcome Back), **blondie91**, **da marshmallow**, and **frostneko**(x11) for reviewing. Wow... 26 reviews... That's got to be the most reviews I've ever gotten after posting a chapter. Though, to be fair, not all of them were for the same chapter. Still, that's a record for Legend!

And on the topic of this story, I'm sad to say that I'm putting this particualr story on halt. I want so much more from this story than I've got right now and I know I can do it better. In fact, that's most of what I've been doing since I posted CH. 27 is reviewing what I have so far and redoing a lot of it, enhancing character traits, reimagining situations, and miracle of all miracles, I finished the plot (Oh my...).

All these new things though can't easily be put into this story since that would involve taking down every chapter and reposting new chapters. And since there's a better pace in the new incarnation that I'm cooking, the current chapter 27 would turn into chapter 14. That basically means no one can review the new chapters unless they do so annonymously (that is, if they've already reviewed the original chapter once.). I decided though that it would be easier to just close this story and start a new one. I'll leave this one up for comparison sake or nostalgia, but that's all that this Legend! is for now.

Fear not though, I will be posting the new version sooner or later (perhaps it might be inbetween those two time periods...). The Legend! will return! (Maybe under a new name too...)

I.K.A. Valian

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Preview!Preview!Preview!Preview!Preview!Preview!Preview!Preview!Preview!

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The two boys screamed as they plummeted through the darkness. Link's floppy green hat, along with the longer strands of Genis' hair and his Kendema ball, whipped around wildly, sounding like a hudnred people clicking their heels on pavment. Their voices echoed in the dark abyss beneath the Martel Temple off of walls they could not see.

Thus it was they failed to notice the large net like objects that they slammed into until they tore through it, it ripping like a wet sheet of paper but producing a sound similar to a tree limb snaping. They slammed into another net, and another, and another. Each net slowing their descent until finally the fourth net gave way and they slammed into the ground at a sub-terminal velocity.

Link tried to push himself up, but he started coughing from the dust that their impact thew into the air and fell back onto the ground when his muscles gave up the fight. This secondary impact cause more dust to enter his lungs and extended his coughing fit.

Several minutes later, when both boys regained control of their ability to breath with only a few coughs between deep lungfulls of stale pitch black air, Genis said, "Wow... I didn't think... we'd survive."

"We're just... lucky..." said Link. Link blinked a few times, giving himself a headache trying to see through the darkness. "Wow... It's dark in here..."

"Did you... hear something?" Genis asked.

Link shook his head. "No..."

For several moments, nothing was said. Other than the two boys' labored breathing, there was no sound. Everything in the pitch black space was stark silent. Then something scraped the ground. Link turned his head to look behind him but he couldn't see anything. The scraping was slow and not very loud, but it was getting closer and it was getting louder.

"Genis, what is that?"

"I...I'm not sure Link!"

Link stood up and reached for his sword, only to realize that the blade was knocked from his hands when he and Genis were thrown into the abyss. He got down on the ground and started feeling about. When his hand touched Genis' leg, the small mage screamed.

"Calm down," said Link, "it's me, Link."

"How can I stay calm when that scratching is getting closer," moaned Genis, "You can hear it just as well as I can!"

"That's why I'm looking for my sword," said Link. "Maybe... Maybe I can defeat whatever it is." He said this with what he hoped was confidence, but whatever it was that approached them was making louder and louder scraping noises. Clicks were soon added to the noises. Soon the sound was nearly on top of the boys and Link still hadn't found his sword.

And then it stopped.

"What happened?" Genis wondered aloud in a soft tone.

Link continued to feel around on the ground and finally grasped the hilt of his sword. "I found it!" he shouted.

Suddenly a peircing scream filled the air from above. Shortly there after, a pink light enshrouded body landed with a thud on top of a newly revealed giant spider. The light also revealing that Link was holding its leg and not his sword in his right hand. The boys swallowed loudly as they stared slack jawed into the gaping maw of the man sized spider.

"Oh crap."

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Preview!Preview!Preview!Preview!Preview!Preview!Preview!Preview!Preview!

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You can expect that to be revised as well in the new version. Look for it! And thanks for reading and reviewing.

Later


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